A WOMAN who crashed her car into railings early in the morning admitted to police that she had drunk seven or eight pints of lager, a court was told.

Blackburn magistrates heard that a subsequent breath test showed Sarah Victoria Whittaker, 25, to be more then three times the legal drink drive limit.

Whittaker, of Thompson Street, Darwen, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. She was fined £500 with £65 costs and banned from driving for 30 months.

Whittaker, who gave a reading of 107 against the legal limit of 35, agreed to be referred to the drink drive rehabilitation programme which, if completed successfully, would reduce her ban by up to 25 per cent.

The court heard that Whittaker crashed into railings protecting a pedestrian crossing on Blackburn Road, Darwen at 6am.

Sian Hall, defending, said her client had been drinking because she was having problems with her relationship and had not slept that night.