A MAN told police he was "blazing" when he was caught drunk behind the wheel of a car that had run out of petrol.

Anthony McMillan, 28, was sitting in a car in Shawlands when police passed by, and noticed other members of the public were pushing the vehicle.

The man, who had been previously disqualified for driving, told police it wasn't his car and he was "just steering" it as it had broken down.

The incident happened on March 25 this year at around 3am on Langside Avenue in the South Side.

When the police officers approached McMillan they could strongly smell alcohol coming from him and asked when the last time was that he'd had a drink.

McMillan replied: "I'm blazing, I know that... Probably about an hour ago."

The 28-year-old appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court for sentencing this week before Sheriff Cameron, having pleaded guilty at trial.

The Procurator Fiscal told the court: "He was sitting in the driver's seat with his hands on the steering wheel and keys in the ignition.

"He got out and said 'I'm just steering it, it's not my car.'

"The officers noticed he was strongly smelling of alcohol and stumbled on his feet."

McMillan was breathalysed by the officers and found to be more than three times over the drink-drive limit, of 22 microgramms in 100ml of breath, with his reading registered as 73.

McMillan's lawyer said his choice of the word "blazing" had been "appropriate given his reading" and explained the circumstances of the offence were "highly unusual".

He explained his client was unaware he was still disqualified from driving, as he didn't know he had to pass an extended test in order to drive again following a previous ban.

He said: "He was told the car has broken down and he was trying to help, as he saw it."

Sheriff Cameron ordered McMillan, of Broxburn Road, to do 90 hours of unpaid work within three months, and banned him for driving for a year.