A Poole mum who drove while nearly three times the drink drive limit with her baby on the front seat has been banned from driving for two years.

Deborah Anne Poulton was also given a 12-month community order with supervision and a six month alcohol rehabilitation requirement at Bournemouth Magistrates Court.

The magistrates heard the 38-year-old, from Cynthia Road, was pulled over in Wroxham Road on April 29 after another driver saw her Fiat Seicento weaving dangerously across the road, mounting the kerb and almost colliding with a cyclist.

Her 13-month-old daughter was alongside her in the car.

She had an alcohol level of 103 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35.

In mitigation, Mark Proctor said the incident had been a “wake-up call” for Poulton, who was “committed to dealing with her alcohol issues”.

“At the time she got into the vehicle she did not appreciate she was over the limit, as a result of how over the limit she was,” he said.

“She was extremely distressed at the police interview at the thought of the danger she had put her child in. She was extremely apologetic.”

He said Poulton, who had taken to hiding alcohol from her partner in her car, had already attended treatment for her alcoholism.

The court heard that since her child was involved in the incident, social services had inspected her home but expressed no concerns.

Poulton was also ordered to pay a £75 fine, £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £60. A separate charge of being drunk in charge of a child was dropped.