Royal Marine phoned police to report himself for drink driving in Slamannan

Jamie Brown, 25, lost control of his Skoda Fabia on the B803 road near Slammanan.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard he could not get a phone signal where the car went off the road, so walked home and phoned the police.

Prosecutor Rachel Wallace said: "Police received a call from the accused at four o'clock in the morning.

"He sounded intoxicated and asked the police to come to his home address."

When officers arrived Brown admitted he had been driving while intoxicated.

He was arrested and gave a sample of breath which proved on analysis to contain 68 microgrammes of alcohol in every 100 millilitres -- more than three times the legal limit, which is 22.

Brown, of Limerigg, pleaded guilty yesterday (Wednesday) to drink driving.

The incident occurred on April 26t this year.

Solicitor Murray Aitken, defending, said: "He had lost control of the vehicle. It was a fairly remote area and there was no signal on his mobile phone, so he walked home and phoned the police.

"It was early in the morning so there wasn't actually other traffic on the road."

Brown was fined £350 and banned from driving for a year.

Sheriff Simon Collins QC said: "He is fortunate that he did not kill or seriously injure himself or a friend of his. It is precisely because of such issues that the stringent attitude is taken to drink-driving."