A MUM was three times the drink-drive limit when she sped away from police with her terrified young sons in the back of her boyfriend's Range Rover.

Lisa Painter - who was already banned from driving - refused to stop when officers tried to flag her down on Park Lane, Poynton, Cheshire.

She drove erratically for two miles with police in pursuit, overtaking cars and causing another motorist to crash, a court heard.

Painter, 46, then left the powerful 4x4 in a copse near her home before her partner found the 'very distressed' boys - aged two and four - inside the car. Police found her in a static caravan in the grounds of her home.

When she had a breath test, she was found to have 109mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath - slightly more than three times the 35mg limit.

Chester Crown Court heard that Painter had been drinking from a bottle of whisky while tending her horses at her home in Hope Lane, Adlington, Cheshire. She decided to get into her boyfriend's Range Rover with the boys at 4pm on an August afternoon when she realised a dog she was looking after had gone missing.

Painter admitted six offences - dangerous driving, drink driving, aggravated vehicle taking, failing to stop after an accident, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

Panicked

Neil Audley, prosecuting, said: "The defendant seems to have panicked. She decided to make a getaway.

"The police officer put the sirens on, and when the officer pursued, the defendant started overtaking other vehicles erratically. Oncoming vehicles had to take evasive action."

The police decided to slow down and turn the sirens off but could not stop the accident.

Mr Audley said: "The defendant's driving caused a Renault Clio to swerve across the road and into a lamp-post."

During an earlier hearing at Macclesfield magistrates court it was revealed that Painter had struggled with alcohol addiction.

She was already banned from driving for a previous offence.

Painter, who is living at a bail hostel in Bredbury, Stockport, will be sentenced in December.