A 22-YEAR-old woman has been banned from driving for two years for getting behind the wheel of her BMW after a night out.

Olivia Cruse was stopped by police on Midland Way in the town centre in the early hours of Thursday, September 29.

At around 3.15am, officers spotted a BMW with extensive damage to the front end swerving across Winwick Road before being stopped on Midland Way.

Halton Magistrates Court heard on Friday, October 14, that Cruse, a Natwest bank clerk, was unsteady on her feet and needed assistance to walk from her vehicle to the police car.

Cruse, of Farmleigh Gardens, Chapelford, was breathalysed and gave a reading nearly three times over the drink drive limit having been on a night out.

The court heard that the 22-year-old’s dad had died from cancer last year which had led to her using alcohol ‘as a crutch’.

She admitted one count of drinking and was banned from driving for a period of two years, reduced upon the completion of a course.

Cruse, who had no previous convictions, was also ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work and to pay an £85 victim surcharge plus costs of £85.