Woman banned from driving after riding Zwings e-scooter while drunk at a hen do in Cheltenham

A woman has been banned from driving for 18 months after riding an e-scooter while drunk during a hen party.

Paige Burnley, 26 and from Lincolnshire, drunk-drove a Zwings e-scooter while on a hen do in Cheltenham on Saturday 9 April.

She appeared in Cheltenham Magistrates' Court on Monday 25 April and admitted driving a motorised vehicle - the e-scooter - on Royal Wells Place while twice over the legal drink-drive limit.

The court heard she was due to start a new job at a pharmaceutical company, but it was put on hold until the outcome of her case.

Prosecutor May Li told the court Burnley was spotted by police on patrol in the town.

"The officer persuaded Burnley to stop and she identified herself," she said.

"The officer observed that her eyes were glazed and red and that her speech was slurred.

"Burnley failed a roadside breath test and was taken into custody where she provided a reading of 75 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35."

Chris Hogg, mitigating, told the court, the group at the hen do had arranged for taxis to take them home but they did not arrive.

He said: "My client thought, incorrectly, that they could ride the e-scooters instead and legitimately hired one of them.

"They did not see anything warning them of the legal requirements and she rode the scooter thinking she wasn't committing any offence."

District Judge Nicholas Wattam told Burnley: "It is in your credit that you admitted your offending straight away and the penalty for this will be less severe for that reason.

He added: "I accept you were under a false impression that you were able to use an e-scooter on the road having drunk alcohol that had taken you over the drink-drive limit.

"An e-scooter is classified as a motorised vehicle for the purpose of the law. This was a dangerous activity to be doing for which there has to be a penalty."

Burley was ordered to pay a fine of £500 and was disqualified from driving for 18 months. She was also ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £50.