A MAN has been banned from driving, fined and ordered to do unpaid work after he was caught driving a motorbike across a footpath in Tilbury.

Aaron Morgan, 27, unemployed, of Shakespeare Avenue, Tilbury, was arrested by Special Constables Samantha Wright and Darren Ford who were working on a roads policing operation in Tilbury.

They were on duty in Thurrock Park Way on Monday, October 24 last year when they saw Morgan entering the McDonalds car park on a motorbike at around 2.15pm.

He rode across the pavement and stopped to speak to people in a vehicle parked in the car park.

The officers approached him and he ran off, leaving his bike behind. The officers followed him on foot and detained him on Dock Approach Road.

When they arrested him they noticed that he smelt of cannabis so he was drug tested at the roadside. He was also found to have previously been disqualified from driving.

Morgan was charged with driving whilst disqualified, drug driving and driving without insurance.

He appeared at Basildon Magistrates Court on Thursday, February 2 and admitted the offences.

He was sentenced to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to pay a £170 fine.