A WOMAN narrowly escaped spending Christmas in jail after being caught slumped behind the wheel of her car five times over the drink drive limit.

District Judge Ken Sheraton told Tracey Shepard, 46, that she only avoided prison because she hadn’t driven her car whilst drunk.

Shepard’s reading was 161 mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – a reading so high that that the judge told her she had put her own life at danger by drinking so much.

Peterborough magistrates were told that on September 23 Shepard was arrested after police had been called to her car which was blocking Flag Grass Hill Road in March.

Shepard of Burn Street was banned for a year, and ordered to undertake an 18 month community order.

“If you had been caught driving at this level, you would have been looking at a jail term of up to 12 weeks,” she was told by the judge.

“The fact that you didn’t drive keeps you out of prison.”

Two other motorists from Fenland have appeared in court at Peterborough for drink drive offences and been banned.

Andrew Woollard, 57, of Highfield Road, March and Nuno Oliveira, 28, of Fundry Road, Wisbech were both fined and banned.

Woollard was fined �250 and banned for 16 months whilst Oliveira was banned for a year and fined �150.

Both can apply to have their ban reduced if they sign up to rehabilitation courses.