A Polish captain has appeared in court accused of being drunk in charge of a cargo vessel which crashed into a North Sea gas platform off the north Norfolk coast.

A Polish captain has appeared in court accused of being drunk in charge of a cargo vessel which crashed into a North Sea gas platform off the north Norfolk coast.

Zbigniew Krakowski, 56, appeared before magistrates for a second time over the incident in which the Jork struck the unmanned Viking Echo platform 40 miles north east of Cromer just before 6pm on August 4.

Krakowski, from Szczecin, Poland, was allegedly almost three times over the legal alcohol limit when he took charge of the vessel and its seven crew members.

He appeared before Skegness magistrates' court facing one count of being drunk in charge of a sea vessel.

He did not enter a plea and Krakowski was remanded back into custody to face the same court on September 10 when legal papers will be completed for his case to be sent to the Crown Court.