Drink-driver rams car into strip bar after being barred

It is understood the man had been drinking in various establishments in the west end of the city, and after being turned away from the Western Bar, he returned to his parked vehicle and drove it the wrong way down a one-way street.

He is then said to have twice attempted to drive it at a member of staff standing in the doorway of the venue.

The man is then said to have left the car and shouted homophobic insults at the manager of the venue.

He was arrested following the incident last Wednesday and was found to be more than twice the legal limit.

The man was one of 79 people across Scotland caught in a festive crackdown on drink-driving in the last fortnight.

In another incident, on Saturday evening, police in the Dalkeith area arrested a motorist who drove a car without lights the wrong way around a roundabout, almost causing a collision, before pulling in to a public house car park.

And early the next morning a woman involved in a single vehicle collision in Livingston and found to be more than three times the legal limit was later discovered to be have been disqualified from driving until January 2013, due to a previous conviction for drink driving.

Deputy Chief Constable Tom Ewing, who is the ACPOS lead on drink driving, said: “For a second week in our national campaign, I have to report that dozens of drivers have failed to heed the message about drink driving.”