A man caught with cocaine outside a safari park was given 200 hours of unpaid work.
But Alan McFarlane was warned that if he offends again he will be going to jail.
The 43-year-old had admitted having the drug in Lime Avenue, near Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirlingshire, on December 22.
Stirling Sheriff Court heard that a police patrol saw McFarlane’s car around 11pm and, due to its location, stopped to find out if everything was well.
They ended up searching the car and found 1.9g of cocaine with a street value between £40 to £100.
McFarlane’s agent said the accused, of Cowan Crescent, Ayr, had been in the area for a family party and was the designated driver of the vehicle.
He said McFarlane does not drink and had not taken drugs that night.
He went on: “He has now become involved in a number of drug matters in a relatively short period of time. He has brought himself to the attention of the court again.
“He is a recreational user of particular drugs and therefore there is a difficulty.”
The solicitor said McFarlane had worked with a local authority for 16 years but lost that job as a result of a drugs conviction. He now works in the construction industry.
He asked Sheriff Wyllie Robertson to consider imposing a community payback order with unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
An existing community payback order only had a few weeks to run.
Sheriff Robertson ordered McFarlane to do 200 hours of unpaid work and told him: “Any further offending and you will be going to jail.”
