A man faces losing his driving licence after police caught him riding a dirt bike on the pavement, in the dark, with no lights and double the drink-drive limit.

Police caught 20-year-old Brendan Warnes riding a pit bike along the pavement of Yarmouth Road in Lowestoft at around 6.20am on December 21.

Magistrates in Norwich heard at the time Warnes, of Ormiston Drive, Lowestoft, was caught it was still dark.

Prosecutor Nicola Lamb told Norwich Magistrates' Court that the bike was not road-worthy, which Warnes knew, and had no lights attached to it.

The court heard Warnes was also wearing dark clothing at the time, which increased the danger of the situation.

When officers breathalysed Warnes he gave a reading of 79 micrograms of alcohol on his breath - more than double the legal limit of 35.

Ms Lamb said: "It was early in the morning and he was riding on the pavement with no lights.

"Clearly this was unsafe, although there was no accident and nobody was hurt."

Warnes entered guilty pleas to four separate charges relating to the incident, including driving without reasonable regard for other road users.

Michael Cole, mitigating, told the court that Warnes had been drinking with his girlfriend the evening before and had ridden the bike away from her home following an argument "in a considerable amount of turmoil".

He said: "He accepts that he did not have a helmet or lights. It is a small dirt bike and is not road-worthy - which he knew."

Chairman of the bench David Henderson-Begg said: "We have heard your vehicle was not road-worthy and you were driving on the pavement in the dark with no lights.

"The consequences could have been dire."

Warnes, who will be sentenced on February 23 in Great Yarmouth, was told he faces losing his provisional driving licence and was given a provisional ban until this date.