A woman who started drinking alcohol due to problems in her life has been given a 20-month driving ban for getting behind the wheel while over the limit.

Cheryll Hope, 61, pleaded guilty to drink driving in her Nissan Pixo on March 1 when she appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Hope, of Pinewood Gardens, North Cove, was driving erratically on Lowestoft Road in Worlingham. When breath tested by police she gave a reading of 88 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit being 35 microgrammes.

Damien Moore, mitigating, said for 60 years Hope had led a "blameless life" but had taken to drinking as a coping mechanism due to events in her life and the impact of Covid.

Mr Moore said Hope had not drank since the incident and was seeking support through the Turning Point recovery network organisation.

Hope, who works in administration at Hales, was banned from driving for 20 months, fined £120 and ordered to pay £55 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge.