A man brandished a metal pole in a pub beer garden after being ordered out of the premises.

Blackburn magistrates heard Ion Florea had entered the Old Mother Redcap pizza and carvery restaurant in the middle of the afternoon and started asking staff and customers for food and money.

Florea, 21, of Winchester Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to affray. He was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay £154 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

The court heard that since the offence in June, Florea had been remanded in custody and had already served the equivalent of a six-month sentence.

Julia Draper, prosecuting, said Florea had entered the restaurant and started asking for food and money. He was asked to leave but started shouting at staff and members of the public.

“He was on the car park shouting and when a member of staff came out and asked him to leave started shouting,” said Miss Draper. “He grabbed a three-foot metal pole which was part of one of the garden umbrellas and started swinging it aggressively.”

Zabair Afzal, defending, said his client had been asking people in the restaurant for food and money.

“Clearly this was not the right way to go about it but he was very hungry at the time,” said Mr Afzal. “He had no benefits at the time and was reliant on occasional earnings from labouring on building sites. He is genuinely remorseful and through me apologises to the court and the people affected by his behaviour.”