A BUS driver who ripped the roof off his double decker on a low bridge has kept his licence.

David Fowler, 21, had only finished his driver training days before the accident and had been at the wheel of a double decker for the first time.

He had just started a 7am shift and was driving down Bonnyton Road in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, when he struck a railway bridge with only 11ft 4ins clearance.

Peter McLelland, prosecuting, told Kilmarnock Sheriff Court Fowler had realised too late there was "an issue of height".

Fowler, of Gibbon Terrace, East Kilbride, admitted driving a bus without due care and attention on February 15.

Euan Cameron, defending, said the bus had been empty at the time, adding: "It was a very serious mistake on behalf of Stagecoach, whose trainee allocations manager had allocated a double decker on a route where it should never be used."

A map at the depot showing low bridges had been painted over and not replaced.

Sheriff Iona McDonald restricted Fowler's punishment to a £300 fine with nine penalty points.