A DRUNK woman tried to buy booze at 10am then got into her car and drove off, a court has heard.

Lynn McColl, of Irving Avenue, went into the Tesco in Hardgate on November 9 after staff saw her park across the road. The woman had glazed eyes and was staggered and tried to buy four cans of cider.

Workers refused to sell the alcohol and saw the 57-year-old go out, get into her vehicle and complete a U-turn and drive up the road. Staff called police.

When officers later traced her and asked for her details, she replied: “I didn’t drive today.”

At 10.55am McColl was asked to provide a specimen of breath and told officers it had been an hour since her last drink.

After she was arrested, at Clydebank police office, McColl failed to provide a specimen of breath and was observed sucking instead of blowing into the machine.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court on November 23, McColl pleaded guilty to failing to provide two specimens of breath to ascertain her ability to drive or the proportion of alcohol in her breath while driving near to Rockbank Place, Clydebank.

McColl’s solicitor said his client had been drinking substantially the night before but believed she was fit to drive.

At the police station, McColl was “panicking and hyperventilating”.

He said: “She is ashamed. She did make a gross mistake. She has made efforts to come to terms with her problem.”

Sheriff John Hamilton fined McColl £400 plus a £20 victim surcharge. Because it is McColl’s second drink driving offence, she is disqualified from driving for three years. She can reduce that by six months if she completes a drink driving rehabilitation course.