A FORMER police officer has narrowly avoided jail after she downed a bottle of vodka and crashed her sports car on Southend seafront.

Tracy Watts, 31, was still a serving City of London police officer when she drove her MG car while four times over the drink drive limit.

She lost control near the Sea Life Adventure, in Eastern Esplanade, and smashed into a bollard at about 7pm on March 26.

An off-duty police officer saw the crash and went to speak to Watts after realising she was drunk.

The officer took the keys from her car and informed the emergency services.

Watts, 31, of Frobisher Way, Shoebury, was then taken to hospital to be treated for bruising.

She was sentenced at Southend Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to drink driving. Tests showed she had 320mgs of alcohol in 100mls of blood. The legal limit is 80.

In mitigation, Sarah Le Fevre said: “Miss Watts is deeply, deeply ashamed of herself and profoundly sorry for what she did.”

Miss Le Fevre told the court the crash happened shortly after Watts had been to see her father in hospital, after he suffered a stroke. She said Watts “hero-worshipped” her father and it had been difficult to see him in this state.

Miss Le Fevre added: “He had been a police officer, and you will know from the pre-sentence report Miss Watts at the time of this offence was also a police officer. She had aspirations to fulfill hopes and promises of her father’s own career.”

She told the court Watts had a history of alcohol abuse, and her reaction had been to drive to a shop and buy a bottle of vodka and Lucozade. She drank this in the car before driving off.

Miss Le Fevre said City of London Police had been aware of her problem and she had been working with its occupational health department.

The court heard Watts had since resigned from her job, and had been seeking help for her problems.

She had been warned at a previous hearing it was likely she would be jailed.

But Elizabeth Hunter, chairman of the bench, said: “We’ve suspended this sentence because of your personal mitigation, the fact you’re already making efforts to overcome your problems and the effect the offence has already had on your life.”

Watts was sentenced to a 12-month jail term, suspended for a year. She was also banned from driving for three years, which could be reduced by nine months because Watts was willing to take a drink-drive rehabilitation course.