A Scottish biker must pay £2,500 immediately or face up to 180 days in prison after he was caught drink-driving.

Ewen Alexander Macaskill nearly crashed his Ducati into a police van at the Quarterbridge while he was more than double the legal limit.

He appeared before magistrates on May 28 and has also been banned from the roads for three years.

The court heard that 39-year-old Macaskill was riding a red Ducati Streetfighter V2 on May 27, at 12.40am.

He was on Peel Road in Douglas, heading towards the Quarterbridge, and signalled to turn up Bray Hill.

Police were coming down Bray Hill in a marked van, and as they got to the edge of the roundabout, they saw Macaskill go across the roundabout rather than around it, into the same lane as their van.

The Officers had to take evasive action and come to an emergency stop to avoid a collision with the bike.

Macaskill, of Balnakyle Road, Inverness, didn’t stop and continued up Bray Hill, as the police turned their van around to follow, with the blue lights and siren on.

The bike pulled over around 100 metres up the road and the defendant got off it.

He told the officers: ‘I’ll be honest with you, I don’t have a licence, well, I won’t have now that you’ve stopped me.’

Macaskill was described as smelling of alcohol, having glazed eyes, and slurring his words.

After he failed the roadside breathalyser test, he was arrested and taken to police headquarters.

A further test there produced a reading of 82, more than double the legal limit of 35.

He was represented in court by duty advocate Helen Lobb, who said that her client was visiting the island for the TT, having arrived on May 25, and planning to leave on May 29.

Ms Lobb said that it was perhaps testament to Macaskill’s behaviour that police had taken the unusual step of releasing him on bail until he was due in court, rather than holding him in custody.

The advocate said that the defendant had no previous convictions and had no points on his licence, but was realistic about what was going to happen to him in court.

‘This is simply a terrible decision he’s made,’ said Ms Lobb.

She said that Macaskill had written an email to the court apologising for the offence, and that his bike was still currently being held by the police.

The advocate went on to say that Macaskill held a UK licence, so when he had told police he had no licence, he had only meant that he knew he would be losing it as a result of the incident.

He was said to be arranging for a friend to help him get his bike back to the UK.

Magistrates also ordered the defendant to pay £125 prosecution costs immediately, and to retake his test at the end of his ban.

The three year ban will apply in the UK as well as the Isle of Man.