A SCHOOL lollipop lady was in a 'state of desperation' when she drove to work while nearly four times over the legal alcohol limit, a court heard.

Laura Burns was stopped by police after she was seen mounting a traffic island while driving in the Ormsgill area of Barrow, magistrates were told.

The court heard the 45-year-old was followed by a police officer at around 3pm on November 14 after displaying an 'unacceptable' standard of driving.

Burns, of Barrow's Cheviot Green, admitted drink driving when she appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court.

Prosecutor Graham Tindall described how Burns' Volkswagen Beetle was seen being driven very slowly before it mounted the island on Schneider Road.

The police officer following her said any pedestrians on the traffic island would have been hit when she mounted it with two wheels on the driver's side, the court was told.

When tested for alcohol, the defendant was found to have had 129 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than three and half times the limit of 35.

In mitigation, Trystan Roberts described how Burns had longstanding mental health issues and was at a 'particularly low ebb' at the time of the incident.

He said Burns did not know why she drove to work that day when she could have walked.

"This is someone who had been in a state of desperation when she got inside that car," Mr Roberts said.

In sentencing her, chair of the bench Christopher Harris said: "This is an extremely high reading, very high, which is very worrying.

"We've also taken into account a number of other factors in reaching our judgment this morning.

"We can see ourselves that your contrition is genuine, that you have no previous criminal record, that you acted in desperation.

"That desperation led to there being a very real and present threat to yourself and others and the bench is concerned to note your employment as a school crossing patrol and the implication that may have had."

Mr Harris suggested Burns' decision to drive was 'bad judgment' caused by alcohol consumption.

Magistrates sentenced the defendant to 200 hours of unpaid work and banned her from driving for 30 months.

She was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity days.