A LOCHORE man ran off when police caught him driving home after drinking at a local club.

David Jarvis legged it from his car, taking the keys, but his female passenger remained in the vehicle and was able to tell officers who had been driving.

Jarvis, 26, of Ballingry Road, who was more than three times over the limit, appeared in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

He admitted that on June 2, in Ballingry Road, Lochore, he drove a car having consumed excess alcohol. His reading was 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 22 microgrammes.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said police on mobile patrol saw a car being driven erratically and apparently over the speed limit.

When they stopped the car, the driver ran off, taking the keys with him.

However, a female passenger who was still in the vehicle gave the driver’s details to the officers and said he had been drinking.

A police dog-handler was called out in an effort to trace Jarvis but he returned to the scene of his own accord and was detained.

Defence solicitor Alexander Flett said his client could lose his job because of being banned from driving.

He added: “He had driven from a local miners’ welfare club, a distance of 0.3 of a mile, he tells me. The journey only took a minute.

“He could have walked home. It was a misjudgement on his part. He then panicked and ran away before thinking better of it and going back.”

Sheriff Craig McSherry imposed a £1,000 fine and a 12-month driving ban.