A HOT food delivery car was stolen from outside a chip shop by a drunk who then smashed it into a Salvation Army building.

The female delivery driver had left the keys in the ignition when she popped into the shop but that was enough time for Brentt Conway.

The car was stolen in Ballingry and crashed in Cowdenbeath shortly afterwards by Conway, who was four times over the limit and already banned from driving.

He had only been released from jail a few months earlier for an almost identical offence.

Conway, 21, of Alexander Road, Glenrothes, admitted that on June 16, at Benarty Square, Ballingry, he stole a car.

He also admitted driving while disqualified in Hall Street, Cowdenbeath, and without insurance. He further admitted that he drove carelessly in Hall Street, causing the car to collide with a building.

Conway also drove having consumed excess alcohol. His reading was 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of alcohol, the legal limit being 22 microgrammes.

He also admitted that on April 14, at Nisa Extra, Main Street, Lochgelly, he kicked and damaged a shop window.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said: “The car is a Toyota Yaris and the owner is a woman who works doing deliveries for a chip shop.

“She left the car for a minute to go into the shop and left the keys in the ignition. When she came out, the car was gone.”

This took place at around 11.45pm and shortly afterwards, witnesses saw Conway crashing into the Salvation Army hall in Cowdenbeath.

“He then tried to get it into reverse but rammed into the building again. He got out of the vehicle and the witnesses saw he had been the only one in the car.

“He was rambling incoherently and appeared to be drunk.

“He kept shouting: ‘The car’s not even mine’,” added the depute.

In the shop vandalism incident, a local resident heard a loud bang and saw Conway in the street in the early hours of the morning. He left but the shop window had been smashed and CCTV showed him to be the culprit.

Sheriff Charles MacNair jailed Conway for 14 months and banned him from driving for 55 months.

Last October, Conway was jailed for stealing a car from outside a shop when keys had been left in the ignition.

Again he was drunk and, on that occasion, crashed into parked vehicles, causing extensive damage.