A WOMAN in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced this week to 150 lashes and eight months in jail for driving and striking police officers who arrested her, news websites in the kingdom have reported.

Women in the conservative country are prohibited from driving.

It appeared that the particularly harsh sentence was handed down because of the charges of resisting arrest and attacking police officers, according to various reports.

There has been no official confirmation of the verdict and the woman's name has not been published.