A pub owner crashed his car in a wall when more than three times over the limit.

Kirk Gillon, owner of the Ship Inn in Limekilns, claimed he had been swerving to miss a cat. He then tried to continue driving even though one of his wheels was badly damaged and hanging off.

Gillon, 46, of Charles Way South, Limekilns, appeared in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing.

He admitted that on June 23 in Dunfermline Road, Limekilns, he drove a car having consumed excess alcohol.

His reading was 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 22 microgrammes.

He also admitted driving carelessly and crashing into a garden wall. He then drove his vehicle in unsafe condition with a wheel detached from the vehicle.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said a loud bang was heard by a resident at 1.35am. The resident saw a car had crashed and approached the vehicle where Gillon claimed he had been trying to avoid a cat, had swerved and hit the wall.

As he was smelling of alcohol the police were contacted.

Gillon then started up the engine and drove the car off very slowly before it came to a halt after just 15 metres. He then started to walk away from the scene but police caught up with him, added the depute.

Gillon's solicitor Aime Allan said: “He’s the owner of a local establishment which he runs and he had been working a full shift in the kitchen that day. He then had a shandy.”

“It must have been a strong shandy,” said Sheriff Gordon Liddle.

The solicitor said her client had then followed up the shandy by consuming more alcohol and “had too much to drink”.

She added: “His recollection is that he was avoiding a speed bump not a cat.”

The solicitor said her client had bought the pub six months before the Covid-19 pandemic and “things have been difficult” with the business “barely scrapping by”.

The court heard Gillon had a previous conviction for being drunk in charge of a vehicle.

Sheriff Liddle banned Gillon from driving for 16 months and fined him £840.

He told Gillon: “This is your second similar conviction which doesn’t bode well. You collided with a garden wall. You could have collided with a person and then you could have been facing a prison sentence in double figures. You need to think that through.”