A holidaymaker who moved his parked motorcycle from outside of a busy Tenby pub, for fear of it getting damaged, has been charged with drink-driving.

Twenty-nine-year-old Aaron Gwyn Barnard, of Oxford Street, Pontycymer, Bridgend, pleaded guilty to a charge of driving his Suzuki 125 motorcycle in Tenby, after exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol when he appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told the court that police officers had been on routine patrol outside the Three Mariners pub on Tenby’s St Georges Street, on the night of Friday, July 26, at around 9 pm, when the defendant left the public house where he had been drinking to speak to officers about whether his bike would be safe where he had left it on the street.

“The officers advised against Mr. Barnard moving it, but a little later on that night they recognised him riding the bike down by The Green.

“He held his hands up and admitted that he was over the limit when they spoke to him,” she explained.

After being breathalysed. Mr. Barnard gave a reading of 57 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

Defence solicitor David Elvy told the court that the circumstances were that police officers were speaking to door staff outside the pub, when Mr. Barnard who was on holiday in the resort, approached them to ask them whether he was causing an obstruction where he had parked his motorcycle and if it was safe to leave it there overnight.

“It had been his intention to leave the bike where it was, but later on he had seen that someone had tried to break the steering lock on the vehicle, so he decided to move it to where he was staying.

“The security staff saw him move it and phoned the police.

“It was an error of judgement on his behalf. He was on holiday in the area, and quite sensitive as to where he had left the motorbike, as he had only acquired it a short time before this incident on finance.

“Unfortunately he will still be paying for the bike on finance, but now is not going to be able to ride it!” he added.

Magistrates disqualified Mr. Barnard from driving for 16 months and fined him £120 for the offence.

He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £32 victim surcharge.