Drunk JCB driver barred from roads

Alan Wilson, of Double Hedges Road, Liberton, was snared after parking the vehicle outside a newsagent while he went in for cigarettes, only for an off-duty police officer to smell the alcohol.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday, Wilson, 28, was fined £600 and disqualified from driving for two years after pleading guilty to driving the JCB with 78 microgrammes of alcohol in his breath when the legal limit is 35.

Defence solicitor Emma Gibson said Wilson, who was previously convicted for drink-driving in 2009, was employed by the roads department and would almost certainly lose his job. She added that Wilson had only had his licence back for a short period of time.

Sheriff Mackie said: “Obviously that had no effect.”