A MOTORIST was three times the drink drive limit as she took a child to and from a swimming lesson, York Magistrates Court heard.

Staff at Selby Leisure Centre alerted police to her actions and officers stopped and arrested Louise Clare Winter, 45, district judge Adrian Lower said.

Duty solicitor Nigel Boddy said she had been doing a favour for the little girl's family which she now deeply regretted.

"It was a very foolish, very stupid act on your part," the district judge told her.

Winter, of Leeds Road, Selby, pleaded guilty to drink driving, her first conviction.

She was banned from driving for three years, and given a 12-month community order with 15 days' rehabilitative activities and 120 hours' unpaid work. She was also ordered to pay a £90 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Jane Chadwick, prosecuting, said Winter's breath test gave a reading of 106 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

The little girl had been sitting in the front passenger seat.

Winter told a probation officer she had 12 months of stress and financial strain and had started drinking heavily.

The drinking could have masked depression.

She was now on sick leave suffering from depression and was on medication.

On September 11, she had been drinking at home when she had got a phone call from the little girl's grandparents asking if she could take her to her swimming lesson.

So she had decided to drive her to the swimming pool.

Since being arrested, she had stopped drinking.

Mr Boddy said: "It was a most regrettable set of circumstances. She has been a responsible citizen all of her life."

She had only driven a short distance and had been stopped on her home street.