TWO drivers have been banned from driving for 15 months after they were seen apparently racing through the Tyne Tunnel.

CCTV footage shows the BMW of 44-year-old Joel Graydon and the Audi of Gavin Mason, 30, driving at excessive speeds.

2They both appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates Court on June 23 following the incident in August 2016 where they both drove at high speed through Tyne Tunnel rush hour traffic, weaving in and out of lanes between traffic," said a spokeswoman for Northumbria Police. 

"Graydon, who lives in Northumberland, and Mason, from Holywell, both pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and as well as the driving ban were both sentenced to 8 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 60 hours unpaid work and pay costs of £100."

PC Andrew Clarke, from Northumbria Police's Motor Patrols section, said after the case: "I don't have to say what the implications of a high speed collision in a confined space like the Tyne Tunnel would be and both these drivers not only put their own lives at risk but those of other road users who were going about their daily business."