A MAN who couldn’t resist showing off to his friends in a supermarket car park has been handed a 12-month driving ban after being caught drink driving.

Police were on duty near the Tesco and Lidl supermarkets in Chard when they saw Jake Shaw driving at speed, screeching his tyres and doing a handbrake turn.

When they indicated him to pull over they could see a half empty can of lager in the front of his car and he was unsteady on his feet when he got out and failed a roadside breath test.

When he appeared in the dock before District Judge Angela Brereton at Yeovil he confessed he had been acting stupidly and showing off in front of his friends.

Shaw, 23, of Bishops Close, Chard, pleaded guilty to driving after consuming excess alcohol on June 11.

Prosecutor Emma Lenanton said that police were on duty in the early hours of the morning when they saw the defendant driving a car erratically around the car park.

“He was driving at speed, his tyres were screeching and the vehicle was moving from side to side before doing a handbrake turn,” she said.

“The officers followed Shaw and he stopped and when he got out of the car he was unsteady on his feet, there was a slight smell of alcohol and they noticed an open can of lager in the central console.”

The defendant failed a roadside breath test and was arrested and taken to the police station where a further test showed a reading of 40mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg of alcohol.

Shaw told the court that he had been drinking with friends and had had a few cans of lager.

“They were in their own cars and I stupidly decided to show off,” he admitted.

In imposing the disqualification, District Judge Brereton told him: “Showing off has now got you before the court and there are consequences for your silly behaviour.”

She also fined him £325 with £85 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.