A boozed-up Swedish mother who ploughed her car into a ditch has blamed Brexit anxiety for the drink-drive crash.

Johanna Jeppson, 50, has said that Britain's looming October 31 departure date has left her fretting about losing benefits which could saddle her with 'catastrophic debts'.

And she maintains that this stress led to her overturning her vehicle in Kintessack, Moray, on February 22 when she was nearly four times over the drink-drive limit.

Johanna Jeppson, 50, has said that Britain's looming October departure date from the bloc has left her fretting about losing benefits and being forced to shoulder 'catastrophic debts'

Her solicitor Grant Daglish told Elgin Sheriff Court: 'This happened during a troubling time for her, as due to Brexit she was unable to apply for benefits which meant that she had to get a part-time job and was left in a difficult situation with catastrophic debt.

'She is not a UK citizen so cannot claim benefits and if she loses her licence today, she could become homeless.

'She lives in a remote area of Moray so her licence is important to her, her parents are trying to assist her as much as possible but they live in Sweden.'

At around 9pm on February 22, police and ambulance crews were scrambled to the crash site after reports from worried members of the public.

The court heard that officers found her car in the ditch and noticed she smelled strongly of alcohol.

She maintains that this led to the her overturning her vehicle in Kintessack, Moray, on February 22, when she was nearly four over times the drink-drive limit (stock image)

Fiscal depute Alex Swain told the court that Jeppson had been drinking throughout the day and had crashed as she tried to visit a friend.

She said: 'She had red staining on her lips, her speech was slurred, pupilsdilated and she was rambling.'

Jeppsson, of Ellands of Brodie, refused to give a breath specimen when asked and was arrested.

A breath test at the station showed she had 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22mcg.

Mr Daglish said his client had misunderstood the situation and had only refused to give a breath specimen due to shock and her ignorance of UK law.

Jeppsson admitted refusing to give a breath specimen after a police officer suspected her of being in a road accident.

Sheriff Robert McDonald took into account her personal circumstances but told her the seriousness of her offence merited a ban.

He disqualified her from driving for five months and fined her £270.