Two drunken friends have been caught having sex with a woman on a public bench.

Levi Covey, 21, of Eastry Close, Ashford, and Mark Penney, 20, of Watercress Lane, Ashford, were handed four month curfews for the offence,.

They appeared before Ashford magistrates on Monday charged with committing an act of outraging public decency.

The pair had been out drinking in a local nightclub where they met a 20-year-old woman in the early hours of Sunday, November 21.

The trio were later spotted on CCTV walking along the public footpath past the Civic Centre in Tannery Lane and towards Ashford International station.

Neil Sweeney, prosecuting, said Covey was seen urinating while the other two "flashed" their backsides at the camera.

The trio then sat down on a public bench where Covey started to kiss the young woman and rubbed the outside of her jeans.

She then began to perform a sex act on him while Penney pulled her jeans down and started to have sex with her.

Mr Sweeney said: "The path is open to the public and at one stage a man is seen to walk past.

"A police officer later arrives on the scene and all three are seen to pull their trousers up."

At the police station Penney refused to comment and was too embarrassed to watch the CCTV footage, the court heard.

Covey said he had drunk about 15 double vodkas with Red Bull and could remember walking past the Stour Centre but not much else.

The woman was given a caution due to her clean criminal record.

Covey's last conviction was for handling stolen goods in 2008 while Penney had been given a community order for criminal damage a week before on November 15.

The pair admitted the offence but were bailed for pre-sentence reports.

Duane Bridger, defending, said: "When they were shown the CCTV footage, Mr Covey was extremely shocked as he couldn't really remember what had happened.

"He doesn't normally drink copious amounts of alcohol. Mr Penney was so embarrassed he didn't watch the CCTV."

In their defence he argued that at such an early hour in the morning, they were less likely to be seen and outrage public decency.

"A man did walk past but there's no evidence that he made a complaint to the police," he said.

"This happened in the very early hours of the morning. I would suggest that at 3.25am people would be less shocked than if it happened at 10am.

"This isn't the sort of behaviour they engage in. Clearly this happened because of the alcohol," he said.

Magistrates gave the pair curfews to remain in their home addresses from 10pm until 6am every day for the next four months.

They were also ordered to pay £85 each in court costs.