A WOMAN who drove while over the alcohol limit collided with a taxi driver on the A590, a court heard.

Beverley Milburn was stopped by police driving on the road after she collided with the car and drove over Greenodd roundabout.

South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court heard the 55-year-old defendant was at the wheel of her Mazda 3 early in the morning on December 2.

After being arrested by police, officers recorded a reading of 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

Prosecutor Diane Jackson said taxi driver Robert Thompson was on the road at the time as the Ulverston woman.

She told the court: “At 6.45am in the morning he said he was travelling in the same direction as the driver. Both he and his passenger noticed the vehicle swerving over the road.

“There was a collision between the man and the driver’s vehicle.

“He said she moved across the front of his car and drove directly over the roundabout.

“He was able to catch up and contact the police.

“She was then arrested when police arrived and took a roadside sample.”

The court was told she had no previous convictions.

Defending her in court, Michael Graham, said Milburn regretted the situation.

He said: “It’s the defendant’s assertion that she consumed alcohol the night before and that she made a clear mistake thinking she was not over the limit.

“She is very remorseful and classes it as a stupid error on her behalf.

“It’s something that she sorely regrets.

“This is a matter which is very much out of character.

"There were some family and work issues that were playing on her mind.”

Sentencing her, chairman of the bench Gillian Sutton said: “It’s clearly a terrible set of events.

“The court frowns upon these things.”

Magistrates banned the defendant, of Lime Tree Road, Ulverston, from the road for the next 18 months.

Milburn was also ordered to pay a fine of £368, a victim surcharge of £36 and £85 in costs for bringing the case to court.

She told the court she would pay the money at a rate of £20 per month.

At the time of incident, police appealed to witnesses with dashcam footage to help with their investigation.