A 44-year-old drunk driver, who was nearly three times the legal limit, has been put on probation and banned from driving for five years.

Allison Medina Burns failed a breathalyser test with a reading of 102, above the 35 legal limit.

Magistrates sentenced her to an 18 month probation order and also ordered her to take an extended test at the end of her ban, and to complete a drink-driving rehabilitation course.

Police were called to Marine Drive in Douglas on January 17, at 3.25pm, after a report of a vehicle over the edge of the car park.

A witness said that Burns’ Vauxhall Zafira had passed by them as it was driven along a rough track towards a picnic area.

The witness then reported seeing dust and heard the engine being revved, with the Zafira then making a sudden lurch forward towards the cliff.

When officers arrived, they found Burns sitting outside the car and she told them she had drunk a bottle of Prosecco.

Checks found that her driving licence had expired in January 2017.

Burns, who lives at Hillberry Lakes in Douglas, was said to have since renewed it on January 24, a week after the incident.

Defence advocate Louise Cooil said that Burns had drunk alcohol after driving to Marine Drive, but had then driven the short distance to the cliff edge.

The advocate went on to ask for credit to be given for her client’s guilty pleas and the fact that she had no previous convictions.

The probation report assessed Burns as a low risk of reoffending and a low risk of harm to others.

Magistrates chair Gill Eaton told the defendant: ‘Drink-driving is a serious offence and this could have had serious implications for you and others on the road.’

Burns was also ordered to pay £125 prosecution costs, at a rate of £20 per week.