THE manageress of a Clitheroe wine bar was more than three times the legal limit when she was breathalysed on her way home from work.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Vanessa Anne Howling's car ended up on the grass verge after she clipped the kerb.

She was driving along Whalley Road in the early hours of the morning.

Howling, 26, of Fir Trees Avenue, Lostock Hall, Preston, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

She was fined £150 with £55 costs and disqualified from driving for 30 months.

Howling, who gave a reading of 109 against the legal limit of 35, agreed to be referred to the drink drivers rehabilitation programme which, if completed successfully, could reduce her ban by up to 25 per cent.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said Howling had lost her job as manageress of a Clitheroe wine bar as a direct result of the offence.

He said she had worked all day and had a couple of drinks at the end of the day.

She had then gone to an Indian restaurant with friends and had three more drinks.