A student caused a crash which left three people seriously injured after taking his mother's BMW out for a late night drive.

Perth Sheriff Court heard how learner drive Ross Broomfield was "euphoric" after earning a place to do a masters degree at university, and so he went out for a celebratory drive.

The 18-year-old was driving on the wrong side of the road when he caused a head-on crash which wrote off both vehicles and injured three people.

Two of the injured people had to crawl away as the car caught fire and residents from a nearby house rushed to tackle the blaze.

Broomfield, who was described as a model pupil at school, admitted he had become "too big for his boots".

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Broomfield he was fortunate the accident had not caused fatalities.

She said: "You're a young man who comes before this court with excellent references.

"I very much suspect that on the night in question there was an element of teenage euphoria.

"I know the consequences have been made clear to you - a number of lives could have been ruined. Any one of the passengers or the other driver could have lost their lives.

"It would also be a tragedy for you, because, with an excellent academic record and a degree ahead of you, you could have lost your liberty for a number of years."

Broomfield, of Dollar, admitted taking and driving away the BMW 1 series from outside his family home on August 5, 2017.

He admitted causing serious injury to his passenger Ramsay Bryce and to Allan Donaldson and Khristine Elma, the driver and passenger of the other car.

Broomfield admitted driving dangerously on the wrong side of the road and into the path of Mr Donaldson's Renault Laguna, which exploded into flames.

The teenager also admitted driving without insurance and while he was a learner driver.

Sheriff Foulis gave Broomfield eight months to complete 200 hours unpaid work so he could carry out the community payback during the holidays.