A drink-driver spotted naked at the wheel of his BMW almost knocked down a cyclist as he fled a busy high street.

Martin Clark was more than double the legal limit and wearing no clothes when he pulled into the path of the rider in Whitstable.

Just seconds before, police had been called after the 44-year-old was seen outside the Royal Naval Reserve pub.

Prosecutor Anna Kachingwe told Margate Magistrates’ Court on Friday how Clark’s naked exploits were caught on CCTV at 2.30pm on May 29.

She said: “The footage clearly showed the male drive this vehicle in a busy road – the whole incident is captured and shows the defendant sitting in his car with no clothes on.”

In a victim impact statement read out in court, a woman who spotted Clark said: “I walked up to the vehicle and realised he was intoxicated.

"I feel very sorry for those people who witnessed what happened that day. I don't know why – I feel I had a breakdown at that time..." - Martin Clark

“From my view across the street, his behaviour was erratic and not normal.

“I was shocked by his behaviour as the High Street was very busy.

“The male was totally oblivious to what was going on around him. By this stage my daughter had rung the police twice.

“We both waited for the police while we saw the male push his seat back and drive across the road.

“He didn’t indicate and narrowly missed a male cyclist who had swerved on to the pavement.”

Clark, who works in Sheerness and represented himself, was only stopped when a member of the public took the keys from his ignition.

He was breathalysed and had 89 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of his breath. The legal limit is 35.

Representing himself, Clark told magistrates: “I feel very sorry for those people who witnessed what happened that day.

“I don’t know why – I feel I had a breakdown at that time.

“It’s something which I will not be repeating in any shape or form.”

Clark, of Whitehall Road, Ramsgate, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and drink-driving.

He was given a year-long community order, including 120 hours unpaid work, and banned from driving for 18 months.