A bin lorry driver who caused the death of a pensioner when he reversed into his wheelchair has been jailed.

Scott Hamilton, 44, who was working for Stirling Council, failed to check behind before backing to let a car past on a country road.

Neither he nor his driver's mate noticed that Peter Wills, a linguist who had worked for MI5 as a Russian interpreter before teaching in Stirlingshire, was behind them.

The 7.5 tonne truck collided with the 80-year-old's wheelchair with the impact breaking his neck, crushing his spinal cord and shattering his ribs.

Hamilton appeared for sentence at the High Court in Stirling on Tuesday after the Crown accepted his guilty plea to causing death by careless driving on the second day of a jury trial last month.

Lord Ericht jailed him for one year and banned him from driving for 12 months.

He told the driver: "Mr Wills enjoyed the freedom that his motorised wheelchair gave him. Almost every day in life he was out and about on country roads near his home.

"By your actions, you have caused his death and the end of a marriage which his widow said was 'paradise'.

"That is something you'll have to live with for the rest of your life."

He added: "At the time of the incident you were well aware of the risks of reversing.

"You were aware that Mr Wills was somewhere on the road behind you, as you had passed him a couple of minutes previously.

"You failed to have proper regard to Mr Wills as a particularly vulnerable road user."

The incident happened around mid-morning December 3, 2014, on a single track road near Sheriffmuir Battlefield, Dunblane, yards from Mr Wills' home.

Hamilton's lawyer, solicitor-advocate George Pollock, said his clients actions were "the antithesis of aggressive driving" as he had been trying to accommodate a driver coming the other way.

Mr Pollock added: "It was a mistake made while trying to be polite."

He said Hamilton, a first offender and carer for his elderly mother, had lost his job as a result.

In a statement released after the sentencing, a Stirling Council spokesman said: "This was a tragic situation and our thoughts have been, and remain with, Mr Wills' family and friends.

"We have robust health and safety policies in place for our refuse vehicles and all of our drivers receive training for this and are expected to fully comply with them.

"Our vehicles have reversing sensors and comply with the recommendations made following the Fatal Accident Inquiry into the Glasgow bin lorry incident.

"We are specifying that the new refuse collection vehicles for Stirling Council have camera recorders fitted."