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A drink driving mother who was travelling along a dual carriageway with her young child in the car spun out of control after drinking cans of cider.

A court heard how the woman had been driving from Carmarthen along the A48 near Nantycaws on the evening of Saturday, October 19.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, lost control of her Citroen C4 which spun around and ended up facing the wrong way on the eastbound stretch of the carriageway.

The mother, who is in her 30s and from the Ammanford area of Carmarthenshire, appeared at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

The court heard that the defendant admitted to police at the scene of the crash that she had been drinking after appearing "dazed and confused".

Prosecutor Lisa Jones said: “At 7.30pm (on October 19) police in the Carmarthen area received reports of a vehicle travelling on the A48 that had spun and come to rest in the second lane of the carriageway, facing traffic. The driver was sheltering in the central reservation.

“The vehicle was moved to safety and the defendant seemed dazed and confused and officers could smell alcohol on her. There was a child in the car with her.

“She was asked by police if she had consumed alcohol and she responded that she had.”

The mother produced a positive road side breathalyser test and a further reading taken in custody found she had 43 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35.

She admitted that she had been in Carmarthen and had drunk two cans of Strongbow.

Mrs Jones added: “She (the defendant) said she needed to drive home and had some sips of Strongbow in the car.

"Police interviewed the defendant and she said she was involved in a collision and had lost control on a straight section of the road.

“She added that she didn’t feel intoxicated at all.”

In mitigation, defence solicitor Andrew Isaac said: “As we have heard the legal limit is 35 and usually readings up to 40 are not prosecuted - my client’s reading was 43.

“My client is apologetic for what happened and you will not see her before the court again.”

The woman pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving and was banned from driving for 12 months.

She was also fined £264 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £32.