A motorcyclist was jailed for nine months yesterday after clocking 166mph, the fastest speed recorded on a Scottish road.

Neil Purves, 27, a hairdresser, was also banned from driving for five years after being caught on the A702 near West Linton, Peeblesshire, this year.

The court was told that Purves, who has since sold his Suzuki GSX-R 1000 motorcycle, covered 0.7 of a mile in 16 seconds. Police carrying out speed checks stopped Purves after they were alerted by the high-pitched whine of the motorcycle engine.

Peebles Sheriff Court was told that one of the officers involved, a man of 28 years’ experience, was shocked at the “excessively high speed”. Fiscal depute Alastair Learmonth told the court: “The speed of 166mph is thought to be the highest speed recorded on a public road in Scotland.”

Purves, from Cockburnspath, Berwickshire, who works in Edinburgh, had admitted a charge of dangerous driving. He was accompanied in court by his parents and bowed his head when the sentence was read out.

Graham Walker, for the defence, said that his client’s speed was appalling but that he was of good character, remorseful and was normally a mature and reasonable young man who had been “seduced” by speed. He said it was clear that no other vehicles were using the road at the time and there were no cars parked near by.

“I think it’s fair to say the level of risk that the public were subjected to was very low but there was considerable danger to the accused himself,” Mr Walker said. He said that Purves’s parents had been supportive, but he added: “They have also been extremely angry about the risk that he took.”

Mr Walker said that his client posed a low risk of reoffending. “It’s fair to say that superbikes or motorbikes of this kind may have a seductive speed appeal and I think it’s also fair to say that Mr Purves was seduced by that element of speed on a long, quiet, straight stretch of road,” he said.

Sheriff John Horsburgh told Purves: “The speed at which you were driving this motorcycle makes a custodial sentence the only appropriate one.”

The court was told that Purves was clocked on a stretch of road between West Linton and Dolphinton last May at around 7.25pm. When police caught up with him their equipment recorded that he had reached 166.15mph (267.4km/h), the court was told. Sheriff Horsburgh reduced Purves’s sentence from a starting point of 12 months on account of his guilty plea.

Last year more than 20 motorists were caught travelling at more than 100mph on the same section of the A702, provoking calls for permanent speed cameras to be installed.

The fastest speed recorded on a British road is 172mph. Tim Brady was caught by a speed trap in Oxfordshire in a £98,000 3.6-litre Porsche 911 Turbo in January 2007. He was jailed for ten weeks and banned for three years.

Jeremy Purvis, Liberal Democrat MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, said: “The jailing of the biker should send a message to the government that action needs to be taken on this trunk road in my constituency before an innocent party is killed.

“I have repeatedly warned of the potential dangers on this stretch and the minister has on his desk right now a letter from me asking him to intervene to allow speed cameras to be installed on this part of the road.

“Up until now Transport Scotland has refused to consider this even with the terrifying speeds clocked by police. The time for prevarication is now over and action has to be taken. The minister has to act before someone is killed.”

As fast as a cyclone

• The fastest Australian wind gust recorded occurred in March 1999 when Cyclone Vance reached speeds of 166mph, beating the previous highest, Cyclone Trixie’s 161mph in 1975

• 166mph is also the cruising speed of a Cessna 185 light aircraft

• 166mph is the speed that the Briton Mike Newman achieved to break the world blind road speed record in 2005. His record has since been surpassed

• 166mph is also the maximum speed of a Sikorsky S61 helicopter

• It is the average speed of a ball when it leaves the club of a professional golfer and the top speed of a 2006 BMW Z4, a 2005 Porsche Boxster or a 1985 Ferrari 328

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