Derek Neary
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 15/98) - A Yellowknife man who drove into the fencing around the tennis courts along Franklin Avenue is facing charges of drinking and driving.

The RCMP were made aware of the accident around 1 a.m. Wednesday by a passing motorist.

The driver of the van, a 42-year-old Yellowknifer, had apparently driven a Ford Econoline company van off the road, down the embankment and into the fencing around the Yellowknite Tennis Club's McNiven Beach courts.

After being taken to Stanton Regional Hospital for the treatment of minor injuries, he was transported back to RCMP cells, where he refused a breathalyser test.

The damage is estimated at $3,000, according to acting director of community services, Grant White.

The materials to repair the fencing will have to be shipped from the South so it will probably be a couple of weeks before courts are patched up, White said.

The accident didn't cause any significant damage to the courts, other than a few gouges in the out-of-bounds area, so players won't be prevented from using them, according to Bruce Cates, a board member with the Yellowknife Tennis Club.