MAGISTRATES were left with little alternative but to remand an Albanian man in custody after he appeared in court but could only produce a litany of false information.

He was brought before the bench manacled to a security guard after being charged after officers found drugs in a car they had stopped and searched in Basildon.

The Volkswagen Golf was stopped in the Mayflower Retail Park at about 10.50pm on Saturday, 23 November.

The driver, believed to be a 19-year-old man with links to Grays, has been charged with possession with intent to supply drugs, obstructing a police officer, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, and possession of a false identity document.

However, the court drew a blank, other than obtaining an admission that he had arrived illegally in the UK by hiding in a container lorry, when trying to gain further information and he has been held in custody while further investigations take place.

The immigration service are also investigating him.