The owner of a Stirlingshire farm has been banned from keeling livestock until 2020 after officials from the Scottish SPCA found animals being neglected.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that Alan Reid, 59, kept eight cattle in a barn at Shipperton Farm, near Bonnybridge, alongside 12 dead cows.

One bullock had a horn which had been allowed to curve round and grow into its head because Reid had failed to get it a vet. Another was emaciated and covered in dung.

The court heard that the SSPCA investigated after hearing of cases of neglect, and found the rotting carcasses and the other eight live cattle, which did not have any food available. He was charged over the condition of the emaciated animal and the other that required a vet.

Reid admitted failing to provide necessary veterinary attention between an unknown date and April 7 2009 to the bullock, and to failing to provide adequate nutrition and veterinary attention for the cow.

Reid's lawyer said that his client has worked at the farm all his life without any previous convictions, has been trying to sell off his animals to make it more manageable, and that while the accumulation of dung should not have happened, months of bad weather had made it difficult to remove. He pleaded that Reid should be allowed to continue farming.

However, the Sheriff, Paul Arthurson, said: "This is an appalling case" and sentenced Reid to 160 hours of community service and imposed the ban.

Following sentence, the Scottish SPCA welcomed the ban.  Chief Inspector Paul Anderson said: "Reid proved himself to be entirely unfit to keep livestock and the length of this punishment is likely to put him out of livestock business on a permanent basis.

"The vast majority of livestock farmers in Scotland work to very high animal welfare standards but unfortunately there are a few who don't.

"In this instance Reid fell far below acceptable standards, causing a great deal of suffering, and has rightly been punished following our investigation."