A DRIVER was nearly five times over the drug-driving limit for cocaine when she was stopped by police, a court has heard.

Teresa Helen Childe, 45, admitted driving after taking cocaine when she appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Nicola Ritchie, prosecuting, said Childe was stopped by police on Etnam Street in Leominster shortly after 2am on June 4.

A roadside drug swipe test was positive for cocaine. A blood test showed 48 microgrammes of cocaine and 800 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite, benzoylecgonine, per litre of blood.

The legal limits are 10 microgrammes and 50 microgrammes per litre respectively.

She was also in breach of a two-year conditional discharge for an unrelated offence.

Chris Read, for Childe, said she had been the subject of a routine traffic stop.

He told the court that Childe, of Angel Bank, Bitterley, Ludlow, knew she had cocaine in her system after using the drug earlier that day and had not intended to drive.

But she had got behind the wheel after receiving a call from friends stranded in Leominster, who she decided to pick up.

Mr Read said Childe had a history of cocaine use, and had relapsed after her mother became seriously ill.

She has since voluntarily engaged with drug treatment.

Childe was disqualified from driving for three years and fined £120. She must also pay costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.