A BOOZED-up Bowling man who left a pub to collect his car and then crashed it while driving home has been fined and banned from the road.

Alisdair Ewen was more than five times the legal alcohol limit when he got behind the wheel of the vehicle on December 5 before crashing onto a footpath on the A82 and colliding with and damaging a road sign.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court was told on January 28 that the 61-year-old failed to slow down as he approached the westbound off-slip on the A82 towards the A814.

Unable to negotiate the turn, Ewen lost control of the car and crashed over the top of a junction island onto a footpath and then grass.

He tried to drive off but his vehicle was immovable.

The procurator fiscal depute told the hearing: “Police observed the accused lean against a lamppost unable to stand unaided.

“He had blurry eyes and a thoroughly intoxicated expression.

“He was clearly having difficulty remaining upright.

“Officers could detect a strong smell of alcohol from five metres away.”

Ewen supplied a breath sample with a reading of 119 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath; the legal limit in Scotland is 22 microgrammes.

Defence solicitor Stephen McGuire told Sheriff John Hamilton that his client, of Dumbarton Road, had been at a pub in Old Kilpatrick and had left his car at home before going back to get it.

Mr McGuire said: “The consequences could have been far more serious for him and others.

“I ask your lordship to take into account his previous good character. This won’t happen again.”

Sheriff Hamilton fined Ewen £600, to be paid within 28 days. He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for three years.

His licence was endorsed and he must sit an extended driving test before being allowed out on the roads again.