WHEN officers caught up with a drunk driver in Clydebank who had struck a car in Dumbarton and left the scene, he told them: "Mate, it's cool, I'm f*****."

Michael McInally pleaded guilty last month to leaving the scene of an accident, driving while drunk and possession of cocaine.

Around 6pm on April 20, the owner of a red Fiesta parked his vehicle in Auchenreoch Avenue, Dumbarton, and 10 minutes later he heard the sound of a crash and looked out to see a black Audi A4 reversing away.

McInally, of Glencoats Drive, Paisley, was driving so erratically down the A82 to Clydebank members of the public contacted police.

Officers met him at the Kilbowie roundabout and, when they got the 29-year-old out of the car, found he was unsteady on his feet.

Fiscal depute Ian Meacock told Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week that McInally told cops: "It was me - I have just driven it from Dumbarton where I hit that red car."

They could smell alcohol on him and said he had to provide a specimen of breath, to which he replied: "Mate, it's cool, I'm f*****."

There were six 1g bags of cocaine, each worth about £40. He was found to have 70mg of alcohol in his breath, more than three times the legal limit.

Defence solicitor Mark Chambers said his client had a "significant amount of remorse" and that he now had the opportunity to change his life.

Mr Chambers added: "This is something of a crossroads for him."

Sheriff John Hamilton said: "I'm concerned about the driving under the influence. There's a history here of minor road offences and perhaps not-so-minor drug possession."

He added that "other courts might send you to jail but I'm not going to" because of the positive steps McInally had already taken.

McInally was disqualified from driving for 14 months and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay a £240 fine for possession of the cocaine."