A DRIVER who was found under the influence at the wheel of a car in Dumbarton will be punished next month.

Jordan Ferrie, 22, was caught by police at the controls of a vehicle in the town earlier this year having “smoked a joint after finishing work”.

Officers spotted Ferrie, sitting in the driver’s seat of a silver Renault Megane in a car park in the town's west end in January.

A hearing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Tuesday, August 17 was told: “At around 7.50pm on January 25, police were on patrol in a marked vehicle within a public car park just off Havoc Road in Dumbarton.

“Officers observed the accused sitting in the driver’s seat of a silver Renault Megane with the engine running.

“The interior lights were on and the windows were all steamed up.

“The accused was sitting in the driver’s seat when he was approached by the police.

“When he exited the vehicle police detected a smell of cannabis.

"They also observed the accused to have bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.

“The accused stated he had smoked a joint after finishing work about an hour before.”

Ferrie, who was listed in court papers as a resident of Craigrownie Gardens in Kilcreggan, but who told the court he was no longer at that address, and who appeared without a solicitor, said he used cannabis “every so often, every few days”.

He told Sheriff Frances McCartney that he did not think he had a problem with drugs.

But when questioned further by the sheriff, Ferrie admitted that buying and using illegal drugs is a problem.

Sentence was deferred until Monday, September 20 for the preparation of background social work reports.