A woman who admitted being almost five times over the alcohol limit for driving - and was stopped again on the day she appeared in court - has been jailed for four months.

Magistrates at Crawley yesterday told Maralyn Jamieson, 55, her offences were so serious only a prison sentence was appropriate.

Presiding magistrate Eithne Gwynne-Jones said: "These were very high readings and you have given no expressions of remorse about the risk to other road users."

Jamieson, of Redehall Road, Keepers Corner, Copthorne, was stopped by police in Gatwick Road, Crawley, on February 4.

A blood test showed she had an alcohol level of 393mg. The permitted level in blood is 80mg.

Jamieson had admitted driving with excess alcohol at an earlier hearing and an interim driving ban was imposed while magistrates ordered reports to help decide what punishment to impose.

But on the same day as the initial hearing on April 4, police again stopped Jamieson driving her Suzuki Vitara four-wheel drive vehicle erratically in Copthorne Bank, Copthorne.

A blood test gave an alcohol reading of 350mg.

Jamieson also admitted the second count of driving with excess alcohol and driving while disqualified.

Defending solicitor Geoff White conceded they were "ridiculously high readings". He described his client as "a chronic alcoholic with a number of personal difficulties".

Mr White said Jamieson was financially secure having been privately educated and having held high-powered managerial positions with airlines.

He said: "But her marriage has broken down. She and her husband do not speak and the matrimonial home has not yet been sold."

Mr White urged magistrates to defer sentence so Jamieson could check into a private clinic to deal with her alcoholism.

He said: "If she cannot combat the problem then her life expectancy will be short."

Jamieson was jailed for four months and banned from driving for three years.