A MOTHER-OF-THREE was nearly three times the drink drive limit as she drove in the dark without proper lights on the A64 York bypass, York magistrates heard.

Lisa Jacqueline Hill, 27, was in the eastbound carriageway driving in the direction of her home in Shepherds Hill, Pickering, at 10.20pm on March 3.

Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, said police acting on a phone call from a member of the public saw her driving fast without rear lights and moving between the lanes of the dual carriageway. They stopped her at the A64-A19 interchange.

A breath test gave a reading of 94 millilitres of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

For Hill, Nick Darwin said she had gone without her car to have a drink with a friend in Pickering.

Then another friend, who didn’t live in Pickering, had sent her a message suggesting that they meet up and “no doubt disinhibited by the alcohol she had taken” she had gone to the meeting by car.

Hill pleaded guilty to drink driving and was banned from driving for two years. She was fined £322 with a £32 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

She had no previous convictions.

Mr Darwin said Hill was shocked by what had happened. She had been going through a difficult period of her life.

Her partner for 12 years had recently left her and she was now bringing up their three children by herself, said the solicitor. Normally she didn’t drink, he added.