The 62-year-old actor appeared in the hit TV series in 2016 and 2018 as Sammy Valentino, a disgraced British former celebrity singer.

He appeared on Benidorm in series eight episode seven, and series 10, episodes four and seven.

Benidorm, a sitcom around British tourists enjoy a vacation in Solana Resort in the Spanish town, aired for 10 series between 2007 and 2018.

And now the actor Shane Richie, who played Sammy, will appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on September 9 charged with drink driving.

Best known for playing Alfie Moon in EastEnders, Richie was arrested in Harlow after officers were called to reports of a suspected drink-driver shortly before 11.20pm, Essex Police said.

In a statement, the force said: “Officers were called to reports of a suspected drink driver in the area of Church Langley Way, Harlow, shortly before 11.20pm on Wednesday 29 July.

“On arrival, officers arrested a man. A charge of drink driving has subsequently been authorised against Shane Roche [the actor’s real name], 62, of Tadworth, Surrey.

“He is due to appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday September 9.”

Richie previously performed at the New Theatre Oxford in 2006 in a production of Scrooge.

The incident occurred at around 10.27pm on Friday (July 31), when a man entered Tesco Express on Bowmont Square in Bicester.

He approached the till with a box-cutter knife and demanded the cashier open the till before he then took cash from two tills and fled in an unknown direction.

The offender is described by Thames Valley Police as a white man with pale skin and a black scruffy beard and around 5ft 9ins tall.

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He was wearing a black puffer jacket with the hood up, long grey jogging bottoms and white socks with no shoes, and he had a local accent.

The victim, who Thames Valley Police say was a 19-year-old man, did not sustain any injuries.

Officers are now appealing for witnesses to the robbery in Bicester and the force released a statement this afternoon (Monday, August 3).

Investigating officer Detective Constable Katie Derrick said: “We believe that there were a number of people in this store at the time of the incident and I am appealing to anyone who witnessed anything to please get in touch.

“I am also appealing to specific witnesses who were in a queue at the till at the time of the incident.

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“There was a man behind the offender, described as white, with short brown hair and wearing a red and blue sports jacket.

“Behind him was a woman, described as in her fifties, around 6ft tall and wearing a grey sweater.

“There were also two younger girls in the store who checked on the victim after the incident.

“If you think that these people could be you or if you were in the area at this time, please get in contact.

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“Anyone with digital evidence, like dash-cam footage of the incident or of the offender before or after he left the store, please upload it to our dedicated online portal.

“Anyone with information can call 101 or make an online report, via our website, quoting reference 43260395409.

“Alternatively, you can provide information 100 per cent anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or via its website.”

Tesco Express branches are much smaller than standard Tesco superstores, typically around 200 square metres in size.

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Designed for quick, top‑up shopping rather than full weekly trolley loads, they stock a focused range of everyday essentials.

This includes bread, milk, fruit and vegetables, ready meals and frozen food alongside items including sweets, crisps, chocolate, biscuits and soft drinks.

Stores are usually located on busy high streets, in residential parade precincts, small towns and villages, and on petrol station forecourts.

Tesco Express often opens early in the morning and closes late at night to catch commuters.

The former Top Gear and Grand Tour star runs Diddly Squat Farm and The Farmer’s Dog pub here in Oxfordshire, where he also lives.

Mr Clarkson has now made comments about those who claim benefits in his latest column for The Sunday Times.

The 66-year-old turned his attention to Personal Independence Payment and wider welfare spending.

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Mr Clarkson, who has turned his Chadlington farm into the setting for hit Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm, argued taxpayers should receive regular messages of gratitude from people whose benefits are funded by their work.

In the piece, Mr Clarkson contrasted the “oodles of gratitude” he says he gets from his dogs with what he claimed was a lack of thanks from people on benefits.

He suggested that, when payments go out, each claimant could be given the email address of a randomly selected working person and told to send a detailed message explaining how they had spent the money that week.

Mr Clarkson wrote: “It’s very simple. Every week, when the benefits are paid, the recipient is given the email address of a randomly selected person who is getting up and going to work every day.

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“And they are told that unless a proper and genuine email is sent, thanking the working person for their generosity, the benefits will stop.

“And I’m not talking about a cursory ‘thanks mate’. I want fulsomeness. I want to hear what they’ve done with the £194 I gave them that week.”

At present, Mr Clarkson wrote, “people who work hard” are helping to “feed, clothe and entertain those who won’t work at all”, but “get nothing in return”.

He went on to imagine an effusive note from a benefits claimant telling a taxpayer it was “so kind” of them to go to work every day so that they did not have to, and thanking them for being able to buy “an even bigger television” with the cash.

Mr Clarkson concluded the column by suggesting that the prospect of having to send weekly thank-you emails might lead some people receiving PIP to decide “they don’t have a head-based neurodivergence issue after all”.

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The broadcaster’s comments come amid a national political row over the future of disability benefits and adult social care funding, with ministers and local leaders debating tax rises, reforms to PIP assessments and changes to the welfare system.

Series five of Clarkson’s Farm was released on Prime Video in June, continuing to chart Mr Clarkson’s battles with bad weather, regulations and local bureaucracy.

Filming is already underway on series six, keeping cameras in Oxfordshire with a release date expected to be set for 2027.