Nattawuth Chumwong was spotted by police officers as he drove along Seaside on December 11, swerving from side to side.

A court heard on Thursday morning how his Smart car was swerving from one side of the road to the other and at one point was driving so slowly, a police officer followed him on foot and tapped on the driver's window.

Chumwong, 52, of The Piazza, was arrested and appeared before the town's magistrates on Thursday morning.

With the aid of an interpreter, Chumwong pleaded guilty to drink driving and driving without a full licence and insurance.

Chris Bull, prosecuting, said police noticed Chumwong driving the Smart car in Seaside Road in the early hours of the morning.

"It was 2am and the officers saw the car driver behaving very erratically," said Mr Bull.

"It was swerving from one side of the road to the other. It stopped at traffic lights which were green. Officers continued to follow it and it carried on swerving.

"One of the officers followed it on foot and it was going so slowly he banged on the window and told the driver to pull over.

"The defendant got out of the car and told the officer he had drunk two pints. As he was talking he was swaying from side to side."

Chumwong was arrested and taken into custody where a breath test revealed 63mcg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath — the legal limit is 35mcg.

The court also heard Chumwong held just a provisional licence and was not being supervised as an unqualified driver.

There was also insurance for the car but he was not covered as a provisional licence holder.

Linda Kerry, defending, said Chumwong was ashamed of the drink driving offence.

"He is very apologetic," said Miss Kerry. "He had been out with a couple of friends visiting from Thailand and foolishly took his friends home.

"Regarding the licence and insurance offences, it was a genuine mistake. He has an international driving permit as well as a provisional licence and was under the impression he could drive on that.

"He has never been in trouble before. He works in a restaurant and part of his role involves driving but other staff will have to take on his duties."

Chumwong was banned from driving for 16 months and fined £250. He was also fined £100 for having no insurance and no separate penalty was imposed for driving without a full licence.

He was also ordered to pay £58 court costs.