A PENSIONER'S driving was described as being “all over the road” after drinking alcohol into the early hours, before she was seen going sleep in her car.

Ann Elizabeth Stanley, 66, was seen swerving from left to right on the Welshpool bypass on the morning of April 16.

A witness described her driving onto a grass verge and almost colliding with trees before shooting back onto the road and into the opposite lane.

Welshpool Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday, May 11, that the witness followed Stanley’s Vauxhall Corsa until it came to a stop in the Old Station car park, at which point he asked if she was alright. It was later heard she had not remembered speaking to the witness and appeared drowsy, even trying to go to sleep in the car, before police were called.

Stanley, of Burdett Row, Montgomery, admitted drink driving at the hearing and was disqualified from driving for three-and-a-half years.

Prosecutor Helen Tench said Stanley provided a sample of breath that contained 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 35mcgs.

Mrs Tench said: “The witness followed the vehicle into the Old Station car park, and asked the driver if she was okay, telling her ‘you nearly killed yourself six times’. The driver was the defendant, she looked drowsy and her eyes heavy; she put her facemask up and looked like she tried to go to sleep in the car.

“The witness called police and, when officers arrived, they noted the defendant’s speech was slurred and they could smell intoxicants.

“She said she was getting a present for family members. She said she’d drunk alcohol the previous night. She didn’t recall driving in the manner described by the witness, who she could not remember talking to.”

Mrs Tench said Stanley had a previous drink driving offence on her record from 2012.

Acting for Stanley, Robert Hanratty said “extreme fatigue and alcohol” led to the incident.

“She’s been suffering anxiety because of the incident,” he said.

“She had been drinking by herself into early hours of the night before. She suffers from a dry mouth condition and she picked up a cup next to her bed the next morning and drank it, realising there was alcohol in it.

“She was going to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, she was preoccupied with buying something. Extreme fatigue and alcohol led to the incident and the erratic driving.”

Mr Hanratty said Stanley was a single woman who relies upon her pension.

“It is almost nine years to the day since the last incident. It will be a rocky road to get her licence back,” he added.

Magistrates banned Stanley from the road for a total of 42 months and she was not offered the drink drive rehabilitation course.

She was also fined £576 and must pay £85 costs as well as a £58 surcharge.