A Newtown man who was fined for taking a shortcut gave police the middle finger when he saw an officer do the same thing.

Carl Ashley Fraser, 30, was cross when he saw a police car drive down a lane, which can only be used by local buses and cycles, near Newtown Football Club which he had been fined for doing a couple of weeks earlier.

He was fined after pleading guilty to using threatening or abusive behaviour when he appeared at Welshpool Magistrates' Court.

The incident happened near Newtown Police Station at around 4.30pm on August 17.

Prosecutor James Ashton told the court: "The officer notices the defendant showing his middle finger to a police vehicle driving past and a w***** gesture was at the officer. Two children with a dog had a clear of view of the defendant's actions.

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"The defendant was pulled over and told the officer that he 'doesn't like the police very much' and that it was 'out of order'.

"He was, and I quote from the defendant, being a 'bit of a k***'."

Magistrates were told that Fraser had a caution for a racially or religiously aggravated offence, and his last conviction was in 2016.

In mitigation, Michael Davies said his client, who is unemployed through illness, had received a £50 fine for going down a bus lane near Newtown Football Club a couple of weeks before the incident.

"On the day in question, he saw an officer doing the same thing in the bus lane," Mr Davies said. "Mr Fraser took out his phone and videoed the incident.

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"The officer smiled as he passed him and that's when he made a fleeting gesture. He felt it was a little unfair that the police officer could take a shortcut in a bus lane.

"That doesn't excuse behaving childishly and he will pay for that by way of a fine."

Chair of the magistrates' bench Rebecca Klug told Fraser that it "all sounds rather silly" before ordering him to pay the court £170 which includes the £61 fine.

Before he was released from the dock, Fraser, of Heol y Coleg, told the court that he was "sincerely sorry for my actions".