A DRUNKEN MILLIONAIRE who drove an electric golf buggy down a main road with a pal in the passenger seat and another man clinging to the back after consuming nearly five times the legal limit of alcohol has narrowly escaped jail.

Colin Peat, 47, co-director of the biggest demolition company in Scotland, was fined, banned for six years, and ordered to perform unpaid work in place of prison.

Peat had been drinking all day at a charity event at Glenbervie Golf Club, Larbert before embarking on the "prank".

He took the buggy, which belonged to a friend, intending to park it among vehicles lined up for sale in a nearby used car lot.

But Falkirk Sheriff Court was told the first vehicle to pass Peat and his pals as the golf cart made its progress down Stirling Road, Larbert, was a police car.

Because he had been drinking so recently, officers allowed 20 minutes to elapse before administering a roadside breath test, which Peat failed. He was taken to Falkirk Police Station and gave a breath sample which contained 97 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres -- some 4.4 times the legal limit, which is 22.

It also transpired that he was also not insured to driving the unregistered vehicle on the public highway, and Peat was cautioned and charged.

Peat, of Antonine View, Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, pleaded guilty to drink-driving and driving without insurance.

Sheriff Linda Smith disqualified Peat -- whom the court heard was a "serial motoring offender" -- for six years, and fined him £400.

She also ordered him to perform 270 hours unpaid work, which she said was as an alternative to a term of imprisonment, and placed him under social work supervision for 18 months.