A NIGHT out in Edinburgh has cost a county woman her driving licence.

Karen Brown, of Byres Farm Cottages, Longniddry, was out drinking with friends in the Capital and travelled back to East Lothian on the train.

But when Brown alighted at Longniddry station, she decided to jump into her car to make the short trip home.

She was pulled over by a police patrol near Ballencrieff at about 11.35pm on April 29 this year after they had spotted her driving with no lights on and her mirror still tucked in.

The fiscal depute told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that Brown was close to being three times the drink-drive limit after she gave a reading of 61mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 22mg of alcohol.

The fiscal added that the officers noted “a smell of alcohol” when they opened her vehicle door and that the woman’s “eyes were glazed”.

Defending solicitor Angela Craig said that her 56-year-old client had been out with friends in the Capital and had attempted to hire a taxi before deciding to drive home.

Ms Craig added: “She had drunk some wine but thought she was fine to drive.”

The solicitor showed a letter of support from Brown’s local authority supervisor and the court was told she would most likely be keeping her employment despite the conviction.

Sheriff Norman McFadyen banned Brown, who admitted the offence, for 16 months and fined her £470.

The sheriff also allowed Brown to take part in a drink-driving rehabilitation course that, if successfully completed, will see the driving ban reduced by four months.