A WINTER roadside vehicle check snared a drug dealer with more than 700g of cannabis, a court has heard.

Police were stopping drivers on December 21 last year on Glasgow Road near Holm Park.

At 9.15am, they stopped a vehicle for safety checks at Hamilton Street and saw two men inside.

They immediately detected the strong smell of cannabis and searched the vehicle.

Barry Drummond, 40, had a small bag of cannabis and a Tesco bag with another three bags with the drug.

There were also scales with herbal units on them. Police found another bag with a further eight bags as well as sandwich bags like those containing the drugs.

In total, there was 742g of cannabis across 12 bags.

Drummond, of Acredyke Road, Glasgow, was arrested and taken to Clydebank police office where he claimed he was "under pressure" to carry the drugs.

He later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court on September 5, defence solicitor Jonathan Paul said: "He does accept that he has an ongoing problem with cannabis and has for some time.

"He started smoking cannabis aged 12. He accepts he has to deal with this now."

Mr Paul said Drummond, who works in construction, had a "minor role" but was still part of the drug chain. And he said most of his client's previous convictions were cannabis related.

Sheriff Clair McLachlan said that while the "custodial threshold" had been met, she would impose an alternative.

Drummond was put on an 18-month community payback order with supervision by social workers.

He must also do 160 hours of unpaid work in the community.

The sheriff told him that if he didn't deal with his drug use, he would be back in court.