SINGLE mother was caught drink-driving after she dumped her boyfriend and he had bought her a triple vodka instead of a single one, a court was told.

Burnley magistrates heard how Rob Hodgkinson laughed when Claire Marshall was stopped and left her by the roadside to deal with police on her own.

Marshall, 27, of Park Hill, Barnoldswick, was fined £100, banned from driving for 12 months and must pay £35 costs after admitting driving with excess alcohol. The bench said they were sure she had no intention of drink-driving and thought she had drunk a single measure of vodka -- but that had made all the difference.

Andy Robinson, prosecuting, said police on Church Street, Barnoldswick, saw Marshall driving towards them and believed she turned at speed into a side street when she spotted them. They followed with sirens activated and stopped her on Skipton Road.

Marshall said: "I was only joking. I was going to stop." She appeared unsteady, her eyes were glazed and when asked if she had been drinking said she had had a can of lager in the afternoon and a vodka that evening.

The lower of two police station breath tests revealed 81 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath -- the legal limit is 35. The defendant had no previous convictions.

Lyn Slater, defending, said the case was tragic. Marshall had formed a relationship with a man called Rob Hodgkinson from Barnoldswick but decided to end it after he was twice arrested.