A South Tyneside man was caught drink driving after raising suspicions by leaving his car parked across two bays at a supermarket, a court heard.

Police were tipped off and watched as Daniel Banks, 32, returned to his Ford Fiesta outside Tesco at Towers Place, Simonside, South Shields.

They pounced when Banks, of Lambton Terrace, Primrose, Jarrow, opened the door and moved to sit inside on Thursday, March 27.

A breath test at the scene showed he was almost three times the booze limit, prosecutor Chike Anieto told borough magistrates.

Mr Anieto said the reading then jumped by the time of an evidential breath test at a police station after his arrest.

He added: “An officer attended Towers Place following a report of a possible drink driver.

“He saw that the vehicle was parked across two bays, with no one inside.

“After an amount of time the defendant returned to the vehicle and unlocked it and attempted to enter the vehicle by the driver’s door.

“The police approached and took the keys from the defendant and asked him to get into the rear of their car.

“He said that he had had two or three drinks of JD and that his last drink was about one hour before.

“There was also footage taken from the Tesco that showed him driving the vehicle.”

Banks, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a drink drive charge.

At a police station, he gave an evidential reading for alcohol in breath of 109mcg, against a legal limit of 35mcg.

His roadside reading which led to his arrest was 92mcg.

Angus Westgarth, defending, said Banks had been “a nervous wreck” while waiting at court for his case to be heard.

Mr Westgarth added: “He is distressed about the position he’s put himself in.

“I haven’t got to the bottom of what the problem is. There’s no alcohol problem.

“I expect you to adjourn for reports. I’ve given him appropriate advice about how to deal with that.”

Magistrates handed Banks an interim driving ban and adjourned the case for a report.

They granted him unconditional bail to be sentenced at the same court on Thursday, June 26.

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Jarrow man caught drink driving after he parked across two bays at Tesco

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