A driver who was caught while more than seven times the legal drink limit has been banned from the road for five years.

Garry Barkhouse got behind the wheel after drinking a bottle and a half of neat vodka and did not know what day of the week it was when police stopped him in Bo'ness, West Lothian.

Barkhouse, 48, was found guilty of drink-driving after a trial in January. He was banned for five years and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work on Friday.

Sheriff Craig Caldwell told Barkhouse: "I told you at the trial you should have been nowhere near a car. In fact given your level of alcohol, I'm surprised you could even find your car, let alone open it and get into it.

"You were seven times the legal limit for driving. That is a very serious offence and, but for your relative lack of previous offending, particularly for road traffic matters, you'd be going into custody."

Sheriff Caldwell told Barkhouse the community payback order was a "direct alternative" to prison.

Barkhouse was arrested at the wheel of his daughter's Vauxhall Astra in Bo'ness after a concerned member of the public called in to say they had seen a car being driven erratically.

Traffic policeman Paul James said he and a colleague went to the scene of the sighting, in Corbiehall, Bo'ness, and saw Barkhouse drive slowly towards them and park.

Mr James, 47, said it was "immediately apparent" the driver was heavily under the influence.

When the officers asked Barkhouse if he could tell them what day of the week it is, he did not know.

He said: "He was kind of slumped, slurring his words, and smelling of alcohol. He was quite incoherent about where he was.

"I had to help him take get his seatbelt off. He was very unsteady on his feet and I had to physically conduct him to the rear of the police vehicle. At that point I noticed he had urinated himself. He told me he had fallen out with his partner and had been drinking heavily all weekend."

Mr James's partner, constable Gordon McCall, 48, added: "My colleague had to take hold of him under his arm and assist him to the patrol car because he was so unsteady. He said he had been out all weekend and he thought that Monday was still Sunday."

Barkhouse was taken to Falkirk police station and gave a breath sample that contained 157 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres, 7.13 times the legal limit of 22. It is one of the highest readings under the new limit so far.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard the incident happened on September 21, 2015, at around 4.30pm.

Barkhouse, of Links Road, Bo'ness, who lives on disability benefits because of a back injury, denied drink-driving. He said he had been drinking at a friend's house nearby and had just got into the car to get some tobacco.

In addition to the unpaid work order and the driving ban, Barkhouse was placed under social work supervision for 12 months to get alcohol treatment and advice.

His solicitor John Mulholland said: "He seems to have an alcohol issue."