Garra Dembele, the prolific French striker and star of Bulgarian Football Team Levski Sofia has been caught drunk driving in the early hours of Friday.

Dembele, who has scored the impressive 26 goals in 24 games this season, has been stopped for a routine check in Sofia's 'College City', where a lot of night clubs are located. He turned out to be quite "under the influence" - with a blood alcohol level of 1.6 promiles.

Garra Dembele, 24 started his career as an exciting young prospect in the French team of Auxerre. He even played in the French Under-21 national squad. In October 2006, though, his career went downhill, as he was accused of raping 22-year old American student while in Rome. The raping charges were subsequently dropped, but Dembele never played in a top-level European team since this case.

However, Dembele is a still serious contender for winning the European Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in the course of a single season.

Dembele is not the first foreign football player who has "succumbed" to Sofia's Bohemian nightlife. Moroccan former national squad players Youssef Rabeh, who also used to play for Levski, was involved in several alcohol - induced accidents last year, leading to a serious decline in his otherwise promising career.