A WOMAN has been banned from driving after she was caught behind the wheel after a hen night.

Blackburn magistrates accepted a plea for leniency from defence solicitor Basharat Ditta who said that without her car Jennifer Harrison would be unable to lead a normal life.

He said that since a "terrifying incident" while at university Harrison, 27, had become reclusive and withdrawn and being able to go out in her car was her only lifeline.

Harrison, of Park Lane, Great Harwood, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. She was banned for 12 months and fined £160 with £55 costs.

The chairman said the normal disqualification would have been two years, but they had taken into consideration the mitigation put forward by Mr Ditta.

They agreed to refer Harrison to the drink drivers rehabilitation programme which, if completed successfully, will reduce her ban to just nine months.

The court heard when breathalysed at the police station she gave a reading of 80 against the legal limit of 35.

Mr Ditta handed a piece of paper to the bench containing details of the University incident which he asked the magistrates not to refer to in open court.

He said Harrison is currently a Marks and Spencer sales advisor but had previously gone to university where the incident had occurred.

"She used to be a lively, outgoing, bubbly person but since that experience she had become nervous and had lost confidence in herself," said Mr Ditta. "She had become reclusive and withdrawn, unable to socialise and unable to go out with her peers." Mr Ditta said that Harrison is still on medication which helps to control her mood swings and it was against that background that his client had been trying to get back into normal life. On the night of the incident there had been a hen party in Blackpool involving work colleagues. Harrison had arranged to drive into Blackburn and leave her car, expecting to be able to share a taxi home. Mr Ditta said the coach had dropped people off at various points and Harrison was eventually left alone.