A BOOZED-UP mum who was caught driving while four-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit has been fined and banned from the roads.

Lauren Townsend, from Barrhead, was nabbed by cops in Campsie Drive, Paisley, on July 3 this year.

The 28-year-old had downed so much bevvy that, when breathalysed, she had 100microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – more than four times the legal limit.

Townsend admitted her guilt over her actions when she appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of breaking Section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 when she drove a Kia Sportage while over the alcohol limit.

Townsend’s solicitor said peer pressure had, to some extent, “played a role” as she was out with friends before getting behind the wheel.

He added: “She knows she was certainly in the wrong.

“A drink-driver’s rehabilitation course would give her an insight into the consequences and serve as a timely reminder to her not to make such poor decisions again.”

Sheriff Susan Sinclair agreed and told Townsend, of Fern Drive, Barrhead, that her ban will be shortened if she pays for, and completes, a course.

After hearing that Townsend had left a job in a beauty parlour to pursue another line of work but had returned to her previous job so she can provide for her eight-year-old son, the sheriff banned her from driving for two years and fined her £600, reduced from £900 because she admitted her guilt.

As she did so, Sheriff Sinclair told her: “It will be reduced by a quarter if you complete the drink driver’s rehabilitation scheme.

“It might do you some good to do that particular course.

“You have got to be fined for this – the level of reading is quite high.”