A woman who tried to drive her drunk friend home has been banned from the road after police found she too was over the limit.

Carly Denman got behind the wheel of Natalie Frost’s car because her friend had drunk cocktails and champagne during a night out.

But the 24-year-old did not have a driving licence and was uninsured.

And when police pulled the pair over and breathalysed them they discovered both were over the drink-drive limit.

Prosecutor Gordon Grace said Frost had driven her friend to bars in Crawley town centre on April 14.

But as they left Bar Med in the town Frost, an air stewardess, announced she was too drunk to drive home.

The plan got off to a bad start straight away when a member of the public spotted the car, an MG, travelling the wrong way in the High Street one-way system.

Police were quickly informed and stopped the vehicle in nearby Station Way.

Both were well over the drink drive limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol in breath. Denman had 59 microgrammes while her front seat passenger registered 121 microgrammes on the police equipment.

Frost, 22, of Turners Hill Road, Worth,Crawley, pleaded guilty to being in charge of a motor vehicle while above the alcohol limit and not being covered by insurance.

Accounts manager Denman, of New Street, Three Bridges, Crawley, admitted driving with excess alcohol, driving uninsured and not having a full licence.

Iain Starke, defending Frost, said, “She knew she was too drunk to drive as soon as she left the last bar.

“She did not realise she was doing anything illegal by allowing her friend to drive and she now accepts that by sitting in the front passenger seat she was in charge of the vehicle. She made a mistake but cooperated fully with police.”

Mr Starke reminded magistrates that being in charge of a vehicle while drunk did not carry an automatic disqualification.

He said: “Natalie works as cabin crew for an airline based at Gatwick and Luton and needs her car to get to the airports for duty. If she loses her licence she would be unable to keep her job.”

Denman told the court: “I only had two large glasses of wine during the evening and thought I would be alright to drive.”

Magistrates banned her for 18 months and fined her a total of £750 with £60 costs.

Frost escaped disqualification. She was fined £700 with £60 costs and her license was endorsed with 10 penalty points.