Nicola Brown, formerly of Hempstead, was five times limit after found swigging wine while at wheel

lcox@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 09:00, 13 January 2015 | Updated: 10:28, 13 January 2015

A woman who was found drinking a bottle of wine while sitting behind the wheel of her car was found to be five times the legal limit for alcohol.

When Nicola Brown, formerly of Greenfinches, Hempstead, was found by police - who opened the door of her Ford car - she was still holding the bottle of wine in her hand.

When they looked in the passenger footwell, they spotted other empty bottles of wine there and Brown, 41, was arrested.

Bottles of wine were stolen from a property in Gravesend. Stock picture: Thinkstock

She was discovered sitting in her car with the engine running in an incoherent state in Luton Recreation Ground car park in Capstone Road, Chatham, in November, and was given a breath test.

Brown, of Rode Heath, Luton, Bedfordshire, was found to be almost five times the legal limit as she gave a reading of 174 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35.

When she got back to the police station, officers said she was talking incoherently while she was there and was later charged with being in charge of a vehicle while over the drink-drive limit and driving without insurance.