A woman who was a fraction over the limit has admitted drink-driving.

Megan Hay, aged 23, was stopped in The Tything, Worcester, at 4am on Saturday, December 17.

A roadside breathalyser reading was 37mcg in 100ml breath – the legal limit is 35mcg.

A further breath sample taken at Worcester police station was 40mcg and Hay refused a blood test.

Police said Hay was unsteady on her feet and they could smell alcohol.

Judith Kenney, defending, said Hay was not advised by a solicitor at the police station and did not realise she would not have been prosecuted had her reading been 39mcg, which was why she was offered the blood test.

She said: “Any lawyer would have advised her to have a blood test. She didn’t do that.”

Miss Kenney said Hay had suffered from epilepsy as a child and had endured many blood tests leaving her with a phobia of needles which was why she refused the test.

She said Hay, of Bishops Frome, near Malvern, had lost a job as a result of the offence, but still worked in a restaurant and looked after an autistic child.

She was handed a 12-month road ban and fined £135. She must also pay £100 costs.