A MAGISTRATE who stopped a train by pulling the emergency cord after she was "too drunk" to get off at a station is facing disciplinary action by court bosses.

But college lecturer Sandra Taylor, 54, today vowed to fight her conviction for being drunk and disorderly after she was arrested on Darwen station 20 months ago.

Taylor, a magistrate in Bolton, admitted pulling the communication cord to stop the train as it pulled out of Entwistle station, where she wanted to get off, but claimed the guard who spoke to her had been unable to cope with her "assertiveness."

And she said the actions of a man who claimed to be an off-duty police officer had inflamed a situation which resulted in Taylor and her husband Brian being arrested.

Brian Taylor, a retired businessman, was charged with endangering life on the railway and being drunk and disorderly. He was acquitted of the first charge by a jury at Preston Crown Court and the second charge was discontinued.

Sandra Taylor, of Entwistle Hall, Turton, pleaded not guilty to being drunk and disorderly but was convicted after a two-day trial at Blackburn magistrates court. She was given a conditional discharge for six months and ordered to pay £200 prosecution costs.

Speaking after the hearing, Taylor and her husband said: "We are very disappointed and will be speaking to our legal advisers about the possibility of an appeal.

"It has been very distressing for us since this incident 20 months ago, going through two court hearings, and we just need some time to take stock." Taylor said she did not know if the conviction would affect her position as a magistrate, from which she has taken leave of absence since being arrested on February 5 2000. She said she did not think it would affect her employment.

The chairman of the Bolton bench of magistrates, Ken Hanham, said: "The advisory committee will decide what action will be taken."

Mrs Taylor, a lecturer at Bolton College, has been a magistrate on the Bolton bench since 1997 and sits at the courts in Le Mans Crescent, Bolton.

The court heard that Taylor and her husband had left home on the evening of the incident to go to Bolton for a night out. They had been waiting on Entwistle station when a train passed through without stopping. They subsequently complained and received compensation.

While waiting for the next train the couple walked to the Strawbury Duck pub, where, they said, they had a glass of red wine each. In Bolton they had a meal, during which they shared a bottle of red wine, and afterwards went to a pub where college colleagues were celebrating.

Taylor said she had a single pint of Guinness before she and her husband left to catch the last train back. The couple claimed that the train again failed to stop at the isolated, unmanned station, but the guard, train driver and a passenger all said it had stopped.

Prosecutor Silvia Dacre said: "I suggest the door lights came on but you failed to press one and I suggest the reason you didn't do that was because you were drunk," she said.

Taylor claimed she had been anxious to get home to her 15-year-old daughter who had been unwell but Miss Dacre said: "I suggest that it was not an emergency."

"It seemed it to me," replied Taylor.