A DRINK-DRIVER caught three times over the legal limit after his car broke down on the M90 started walking along the motorway.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard that it was around 9pm when police on patrol saw saw a car parked on the hard shoulder with its hazard lights flashing.

Sean Broun was in the driver's seat when they approached him and they asked him what was wrong with his car but he seemed confused and unable to answer simple questions.

They described him as acting in a “strange manner”.

He told them there was a problem with the clutch and a recovery vehicle was then called.

Broun grabbed a bag and then went off walking down the carriageway despite officers telling him to come back.

Police went to get their car and managed to catch up with him to tell him he could not walk along the motorway. They then told him to get in the car.

While in the police vehicle, officers noticed a smell of alcohol and when they came off the motorway, they asked Broun to do a breath test. He tested positive.

Broun, 49, of Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, admitted that on December 15, on the M90 northbound between junctions 2 and 2A, he drove a motor vehicle after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath was 66 migrogrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, which exceeded the prescribed limit, namely 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

Defence solicitor Roshni Joshi said her client was out of employment and supporting himself off savings although he was due to start a new job at a hotel shortly.

“He knows that he has a problem with alcohol,” Ms Joshi said. “He has visited a group to help him.

“He was expecting to get a delivery of gas to a property he owns.

“He was told he needed to be there for it to be delivered and he needed it to supply fuel to the home. There he made the foolish decision to drive.

“His clutch was damaged. He cannot fully recollect the account of what has been described.

“The impact of losing his licence is significant because he is renovating his property.”

Sheriff Robert McDonald imposed a fine of £800 and banned Broun from driving for 18 months.