AN ALLOA man was forced to resign as a bus driver after being banned from the road for drink-driving.

Robert Donald, of Hawkhill Road, Alloa, was more than two times over the legal limit when police pulled him over last month.

The officers had been alerted by concerned members of shop staff who watched him drunkenly buy booze before getting into his car.

The 44-year-old appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court to be sentenced for the offence, which took place on August 3.

Depute fiscal, Susannah Hutchison, said Donald had entered the B&M store in Alloa and was visibly staggering and smelling strongly of alcohol.

He then proceeded to buy a bottle of vodka, leave the store and get into his car and drive away.

Staff, concerned by the level of his intoxication, phoned police who traced him a short time later at Hiltonhawk Way, Alloa, before charging him.

His breathalyser test showed an alcohol level of 54mcg – well beyond the legal limit of 22mcg per 100ml of breath.

Defence counsel Jim Savage told the court his client was previously a bus driver in the area but handed in his resignation in anticipation of the drink driving case.

Donald also signed up for alcohol awareness classes in an attempt to address the matter of his misuse of drink, according to his solicitor.

Mr Savage pleaded with Sheriff David Mackie to hold off on any financial penalty for the accused as Donald would be unable to pay any sum due to a delay in his eligibility to be given job seekers allowance.

He said: "I ask your lordship to defer any payments for a period of three months until he is eligible for job seekers allowance of around £72 per week. It currently takes 13 weeks for someone to become eligible.

"My client is currently supported by his parents, at whose house he currently resides. He does accept that on the morning of the incident, he had been drinking."

In sentencing Donald, Sheriff Mackie said: "You appear in court without any relevant convictions at all and I am sorry this is going to have a serious consequence on you as far as your employment is concerned.

"The consequence today is that you are fined £350, to be paid at a sum of £10 per fortnight, deferred for three months.

"I am also disqualifying you from driving for a period of 12 months, although that will be cut to nine months if you manage to complete a drink driving rehabilitation course."