A MAN had a miracle escape after being run over by a speeding train as it careered through a Greenock railway station.

Michael Mearns, 50, fell on to the tracks and was driven over by the train - but amazingly escaped unscathed after being missed by the 8.50pm Glasgow to Gourock service.

The 50-year-old was rescued from underneath a carriage by the driver and ticket examiner - but could remember little of the incident because of his drunken state.

Mearns, of Dalrymple Street, pleaded guilty to causing a breach of the peace by lying on the railway line at Cartsdyke in an intoxicated state and causing a train to perform an emergency stop during a recent appearance at the Justice of the Peace court in Greenock.

Depute fiscal Tom Smyth explained how the horrified driver of the train slammed on the brakes after seeing the drunk lying in the path of the train as he approached Cartsdyke.

He said: "The driver quickly realised it was a person and began the emergency stop procedure. He believed he had struck the man and contacted the ticket examiner for help." The court heard two carriages of the train drove over Mearns before the driver managed to bring it to a halt.

Mr Smyth added: "Tentatively both men made their way back along the platform and looked between its edge and the rails. Around halfway down the second coach they found the accused.

"It would appear he had fallen between the tracks and the platform and was completely uninjured as a result.

"The two men managed to pull him from under the train and on to the platform.

"It quickly became apparent that he was very drunk and disorientated. The driver was badly shaken by the incident but continued on to the end of the journey in Gourock after contacting police." Officers arrived at the station and seized CCTV footage of the incident. After examining this, Mearns was charged with being drunken and incapable.

Mearns, represented by solicitor Derek Buchanan, will appear next month after sentence was deferred for reports.