REVELLER Glen Thirlwell began the New Year by unwittingly taking part in a speedboat chase, straight out of a James Bond movie.

Thirlwell, 35, decided to take a trip along the River Tyne in his 20 horsepower boat and take pictures of Millennium Eve fireworks on the stroke of midnight, a court heard,

But as he appeared on the water, 40,000 people on the quayside at Newcastle and the river bank at Gateshead began to clap and cheer, thinking he was part of the entertainment.

The commotion drew the attention of a Northumbria Police launch, which pulled alongside and tried to stop his one-man craft from going any further.

He weaved around the river above the speed limit, apparently trying to shake off the police,

Thirlwell claimed he was actually clinging on for dear life because the throttle was stuck wide open.

At Gateshead Magistrates' Court, Thirlwell, of Dunston, Gateshead, was fined a total of £200 with £55 costs after falling foul of river regulations.

He admitted failing to navigate with care, failing to stop or allow boarding, speeding on the Tyne and failing to keep to the starboard channel.

Thirlwell denied navigating the Tyne while drunk, and the prosecution offered no evidence on that charge.

Derek Waldron, prosecuting, said the Port of Tyne Authority had a restriction on boats using that section of the Tyne, between 6pm and 6am, because of the millennium celebrations.

Thirlwell was spotted minutes before midnight near the exclusion zone, and when the police launch lights were put on him, he speeded up to more than 20 knots, and into the exclusion zone.

He then executed three tight turns under the Tyne Bridge and waved to revellers on the Tuxedo Princess floating nightclub.

While doing another tight turn, he capsized.

At an earlier hearing, Thirlwell told how he took off across the Tyne by accident.

"I wasn't just joyriding, I was scared out of my wits because I thought I was going to crash," he said