AN ALLOA man's dangerous driving when drunk resulted in a collision with three other vehicles.

A woman in one of the cars had to be cut free from the wreckage on January 12 this year.

The incident began after Colin Lyon had an argument with a partner, decided to he was going to cause himself harm and got behind the wheel when more the twice over the drink-drive limit.

Lyon, 43, of Coats Crescent, appeared for sentencing at Alloa Sheriff Court on Thursday, April 15.

He previously admitted on the A91 between Alva and Tillicoultry he drove a car having consumed excess alcohol.

His reading was 53 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, well above the current legal limit set at 22 microgrammes.

He drove dangerously by pulling out into the opposing carriageway when it was unsafe to do so, braked harshly and attempted to re-enter the correct lane, causing a number of vehicles to try to take evasive action and he then collided with three other vehicles.

Two of these vehicles and his own car were extensively damaged. A woman was injured and had to be cut from one of the vehicles struck by Lyon.

Defence solicitor Larissa Milligan said: "He has had a long-standing difficulty with alcohol and he'd had an argument with his wife. He intended to harm himself.

"He is truly remorseful for the consequences he caused.

"He didn't mean to harm anybody other than himself but that's not how things worked out."

She added that Lyon is a gas engineer, has been office-based as a result of losing his licence and he will have to go on to part-time work.

Sheriff Craig Harris told Lyon: "This must have been a terrifying experience for the other drivers. You're very fortunate the injuries you caused were not much worse than they were."

The sheriff imposed a community payback order with 70 hours of unpaid work.

He also banned Lyon from driving for 16 months and until he passes the extended test.