A MOTORIST caught drink-driving by police told a court yesterday it was only the fifth time she had ever had alcohol.

Emily Skinner, 24, was stopped by police at 1am yesterday in King's Road, Harrogate, after she was spotted swerving from lane to lane.

She appeared before the town's magistrates yesterday after being held in police cells overnight.

Mark Haigh, prosecuting, said a breath test showed Skinner, of Hollins Lane, Hampsthwaite, North Yorkshire, who admitted drink- driving, was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit.

Richard Buchanan, in mitigation, said his client, an American, had been kept in a police cell between arrest and court appearance because she had said she was returning to the US next week.

He said she was going home to get a new visa so she would be able to work at Menwith Hill spy base as a child counsellor.

He said Skinner rarely drank and that on Sunday night she had shared two bottles of wine with her cousin whom she had not seen for 18 months. It was only the fifth time she had ever drank alcohol.

Skinner was fined £250 with £50 costs and was banned from driving for 20 months.