A WOMAN who was spotted by her neighbour reversing over a hedge turned out to be more than three times the drink-drive limit.

Karen Wild, of Solway Court in New Broughton, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The 60-year-old admitted that on September 26, at Solway Court, she drove an Audi motor vehicle after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion in her breath exceeded the prescribed limit.

She was found to have 120 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, told the court that on the day of the offence, Wild's neighbour saw her getting into her Audi A1 and "reversing badly on an angle."

She went over a small hedge in her front garden and then quickly reversed into the corner of her house, as if she'd intended to set off in first gear but gone into reverse instead.

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Wild then sat in the car for ten minutes before setting off down the road.

She returned five minutes later, and pulled back and forth outside the neighbour's garden before stopping and slumping over the steering wheel.

When the neighbour went to check she was ok, it was clear she was intoxicated and an empty wine bottle was seen in the vehicle.

There was also a smell of burning coming from Wild's house - as she'd left a pan on the hob.

When she was arrested and taken to the police station, she provided the breath sample which led to her charge.

Wild told police she had been a "big drinker" in the past but had never got behind the wheel.

She wasn't sure where she might have driven to on the day and could only remember starting to drink wine in the afternoon.

Catherine Jagger, defending, told the court: "Following her night in the cells, she took herself immediately to alcoholics anonymous and has been every day since.

"She called on her neighbour who called the police the next day and thanked them for doing what they did."

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Probation officer Andrew Connah said: "The issue for her is that of her alcohol consumption.

"That is being addressed on a voluntary basis.

"This offence appears to have been a massive wake-up call."

The court heard the defendant had no previous convictions on her record.

District Judge Gwyn Jones handed down a six-month community order with five days of rehabilitation activity and an alcohol abstinence and monitoring order of 120 days.

He also issued a £250 fine and ordered the defendant to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

Wild was banned from driving for 36 months.