A MOTORIST had to be cut free from his car after he came off the road and collided with a electricity pole in Paisley.

The unnamed driver is being treated at the local Royal Alexandra Hospital with neck and back injuries where his condition is said to be "serious."

The crash happened shortly after midnight on Monday after police officers said they had received reports of a vehicle being driven "erratically" near the Asda supermarket at the Phoenix Retail Park in near by Linwood, Renfrewshire.

A police patrol car then came across the crash scene several miles away on Greenhill Road, Paisley. Firefighters used blocks to stablise the car before using cutting gear to remove the roof in an operation that took almost half an hour.

With the help of paramedics, firefighters then slowly lifted the 46-year-old driver through the open roof to safety. He was gently put on a stretcher before taken by ambulance to the RAH.

Police Scotland said the unnamed motorist is being investigated for a number of alleged road traffic offences and will be the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal.