A WOMAN was this week banned from driving for a year after using her Mercedes car under the influence of alcohol in a village near Wellington.

Sarah Geran, age 46, was stopped in Black Lane, Holcombe Rogus, on July 6 last year and found to have drunk nearly one-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit.

Prosecuting solicitor Susan Cameron told Taunton magistrates Geran’s alcohol reading was 55 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath, against a limit of 35.

Geran, of Holcombe Rogus, who pleaded guilty, was disqualified from driving for 12 months but told the ban would be reduced by three months if she completed a drink-drive rehabilitation course by November 27.

She was also fined £345 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £138 victim fund surcharge.