A GREENOCK man who has continued to flout an unpaid work order for a near two-year-old drugs offence has been warned he's now on the brink of prison.

Ross McFarlane had originally been given 100 hours for cannabis possession but it was increased to 150 hours in June after it emerged he'd ignored the court directive.

The 27-year-old — who is also on a deferred sentence for having the illegal valium substitute etizolam — has now been issued with a final warning by social workers.

His lawyer, David Tod, said: "He started from a very low bar."

Sheriff Thomas Ward replied: "Well he'd better raise it."

The previous calling of the case in the summer heard that McFarlane had failed to carry out any of the community payback order for the December 2017 cannabis offence.

This was attributed to his 'chaotic' lifestyle.

He was jailed in 2016 for refusing to be breathalysed on suspicion of drink-driving — just two months after he was banned from the roads for being over the limit.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in January after he failed to turn up at court to be sentenced for the cannabis resin matter.

Sheriff Ward continued the deferred sentence for the other drug offence, which was committed in September last year and issued an ultimatum to McFarlane, of Ann Street.

The sheriff told him: "If I get a report such as the the one I got today then the community payback order will be revoked and you will be dealt with in some other way.

"You were issued with a formal and final warning for non-compliance.

"That tells me that you are likely to be breached shortly if the order is not improved upon, and you will be sentenced accordingly."

McFarlane — who has been warned that he faces a 'substantial period' in jail — is due to return to court on the matters in the new year.