A support worker in a care home for sailors with drink-induced dementia has been struck off after turning up for work drunk.

John McCready was more than three times the legal limit for driving when he turned up for a 3pm shift at the Korsakoff syndrome unit of the Sir Gabriel Wood's Mariners' Home in Greenock, Renfrewshire, in 2015.

A hearing of the Scottish Social Services Council's conduct sub-committee, meeting in Dundee, was told the incident was the second time McCready had turned up unfit for work due to drink.

He was warned and told to consider counselling after the first incident in 2013 and sacked on January 29, 2015, the day after the second incident.

The sub-committee was told McCready was one of only two care workers on duty at any one time in a unit caring for up to a dozen highly vulnerable service users affected by Korsakoff syndrome, a condition akin to dementia that is usually caused by excessive alcohol use.

It heard that on the day in question he arrived at work "his eyes glazed, his speech slurred, and unsteady on his feet".

The home's manager administered a breath test and McCready gave a reading of 72 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

He then admitted he had been drinking until the early hours. The sub-committee found McCready guilty of misconduct.

Its ruling said: "Given your knowledge and training in relation to Korsakoff's syndrome, and the particular needs of service users in your care, the sub-committee was very concerned that you had shown no insight into your behaviour and the impact it could have had on them."

The sub-committee found McCready, a care worker for more than 20 years, was "clearly well-liked" by residents in the unit and had developed positive relationships with them.

It ruled his name should be removed from the section of the Scottish Social Services Council register for care workers for adults. McCready was given 14 days to appeal the decision.