A primary school lollipop man who took part in a campaign to promote road safety wrote off his car while five times the drink-drive limit.

Robert Mathieson, who was photographed while working to highlight police and local government increasing road safety measures, has now been banned from driving for crashing his Honda hatchback in January.

The 67-year-old had been drinking strong cider in his home in Linwood, Renfrewshire, before taking to the road to pick up his wife.

His wife never got picked up, however, as once behind the wheel of the car he lost control in Paisley and crashed.

Both airbags were deployed and the vehicle had to be written off. The details emerged on Friday when Mathieson appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court to be sentenced for drink driving.

He had earlier pled guilty to driving with 114 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.

Procurator fiscal depute Pamela Flynn told the court Mathieson came to the attention of police after a member of the public spotted his crashed car and him staggering around the street.

They asked Mathieson, who has a previous conviction for drink-driving from 35 years ago, if he needed any help.

Mathieson said he was fine but the good member of the public noticed his speech was slurred, phoned the police and gave them Mathieson's description.

When officers arrived they found no sign of Mathieson but tracked him and his car down to a car park a short distance away in Blackstoun Road.

He was slumped in the driver's seat of the vehicle, both of the airbags had been deployed, the front of the car was severely damaged and he failed a roadside breath test. He was then detained and gave a reading of 114mcg at taken to the police station.

Defence solicitor Phil Rooney said Mathieson, who suffers from colon cancer, was still working as a lollipop man despite his condition and had lost £8000 because his car had to be written off.

He said he would be able to pay a fine for the offence as he also receives a pension, and could do unpaid work as an alternative to a jail term.

As Mathieson's previous drink-driving conviction was 35 years ago it is treated as spent and he was dealt with as a first offender.

Sparing Mathieson jail and placing him on a community payback order, Sheriff Robert Fife said: "This was a very dangerous driving offence.

"With such a high reading I would have considered a period of imprisonment were it not for the absence of any previous convictions and your serious health issues."

As well as having to complete 100 hours' unpaid work, Mathieson was also banned from driving for three years.

In 2014 Mathieson, a lollipop man at Netherlee Primary School in Glasgow, appeared in promotional pictures to highlight a campaign by East Renfrewshire Council, the school and the police to address speeding and irresponsible parking.

The campaign featured a crossing on busy Clarkston Road being widened to allow more children to cross, parking restriction lines being repainted and police and community wardens patrolling regularly to enforce parking restrictions.

A second lollipop person for a junction at Linn Park Avenue was also put in place and Mathieson was the lollipop man used to highlight the increased safety measures.