A CLACKS man who phoned police to report himself for being "about the town with a knife" was spared jail last week.

Ian Farrell was found at bus stop in Tullibody with a seven-inch blade up his sleeve after cops went to investigate his 11pm call.

The 25-year-old, of Earn Court, Alloa, pleaded guilty to possessing the knife in the incident on October 15, 2017, on Stirling Road.

Jim Savage, defending, told Stirling Sheriff Court last Wednesday that Farrell had been drinking, and added: "He seems almost to have wanted to have been arrested."

Sheriff William Gilchrist placed Farrell under supervision for 18 months.

He said: "The somewhat unusual aspect of this was that you yourself reported to the police that you were in possession of a knife.

"You were of course seriously intoxicated, which might partly explain why you had a knife and why you phoned the police to tell them you had a knife.

"The underlying problem is alcohol and that has to be addressed."