A DRINK driver crashed her car into an Evesham pub while close to twice the limit after showing off the new vehicle to 'a male friend'.

Clare Chattey appeared before magistrates in Worcester on Thursday after she reversed her Volkswagen Golf into a wall of the Angel Vaults in Evesham, a collision which occurred after she had already driven into a nearby block of flats.

The 49-year-old of Philipscote, Evesham, admitted driving with excess alcohol in the town's Castle Street on November 30 last year. The evidential specimen, taken at the police station, was 69mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, close to twice the legal limit of 35mcg.

Ralph Robyns-Landricombe, prosecuting, said police received a call from someone at the Angel Vaults over concerns someone within the pub 'was potentially drink driving'. After an argument with her partner the defendant was later seen in the driver's seat with the engine running.

He said: "She drives the car forward, colliding with the corner of a block of flats near to where she had been parked, causing damage to the front of the car.

"She then reverses her car into the wall of the pub, resulting in damage to the rear of the car and minor damage to the wall of the pub."

When she retuned to the pub she was said to have handed her car keys to bar staff. She initially told officers she had walked to the pub.

However, staff noticed that she 'appeared to be under the influence of alcohol when she entered the pub'.

In police interview she also said she had been taking codeine after being hospitalised and undergoing surgery and that 'this may have caused her intoxicated appearance'.

She believed she had drunk two brandies while at the pub, rating herself as six out of 10 on a scale of drunkenness.

"She said she had planned to walk home after going to the pub" he said. CCTV showed that she had been driving. She later said: "You have got CCTV of me so what can I do?"

She had five previous convictions for 'dishonesty and drugs' matters but that there was nothing relevant to the drink driving offence on her record.

John Rogers, defending, said his client had been admitted to hospital for urgent surgery and had 'decided to drive the car to the pub to meet a friend to surprise him and show him the car'.

"She's adamant that when she arrived at the pub she was not intoxicated. She had been taking very strong medication which may have given that impression" said Mr Rogers.

He told magistrates her intention had always been to walk home and said the incident involved 'two minor bumps' before she went back into the pub.

The solicitor explained that her driving licence was 'imperative to her job'.

Giving her credit for her guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, magistrates banned her from driving for 17 months and fined her £120.

Chattey was also ordered to pay costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £34. A drink drivers rehabilitation course was offered. If completed successfully at her own expense, the course will reduce the length of the disqualification by 17 weeks.