A man who allegedly flew a drone near the Padang during this year's National Day Parade (NDP) has told a district court that he intends to plead guilty to the offence.

Tan Jin Kang, 21, was charged yesterday with an offence under the Public Order Act.

He is accused of unlawfully flying a DJI Mavic 2 zoom drone along Raffles Avenue in front of the Singapore Flyer at around 8pm on Aug 9.

The drone, described as a "prohibited item" in court documents, is said to have gone up 10.8m for around 45 seconds.

Court documents did not state why Tan allegedly operated the drone that day.

In a statement on Tuesday, the police said this year's NDP at the Padang had been declared an "enhanced security special event" under the Act for the whole day on Aug 9. "The area around the Padang, which includes Raffles Avenue, had been designated as a special event area where police had imposed security restrictions," they said.

It was then an offence to fly drones in the area without a valid permit.

Tan, who was unrepresented, will be back in court on Oct 30.

If convicted of the offence, he can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $20,000.