A MUM of four was caught drug driving by police.

South Cumbria Magistrates' Court heard Carrie Hartley was driving a Vauxhall Zafira on Roose Road when she was stopped by police.

Class A drug cocaine, which she said she had taken 24 hours before, was found in her system, the court was told.

The 40-year-old admitted drug driving when she appeared before magistrates.

Prosecutor Peter Kelly told the court the incident happened on November 30.

He said: "The circumstances are that in effect the vehicle was stopped by the officers, not because of the driving but due to some intelligence that interested officers.

"The vehicle was stopped and in due course she was tested at the roadside.

"It came back positive for cocaine.

"She was then arrested and taken to the police station for a blood sample.

"What Mrs Hartley tells me is that she had taken cocaine in the early hours of the 29th, about 24 hours before, but she didn't appreciate how long cocaine can stay in the body and indicated that she didn't feel, as it were, under the influence of anything, but accepts that she's guilty of the offence."

Mr Gallagher told the court Hartley did not have any similar previous convictions.

He said Hartley losing her driving licence would have a 'significant effect on her family life'.

"She's a single parent of four children," he said.

"She's the only driver and this is going to cause some significant difficulty."   

Magistrates sentenced Hartley to a fine of £120 and banned her from driving for 12 months.

On top of that Hartley, of Westway in Barrow, was ordered to pay a £48 victim surcharge and costs of £85.