A BORDERS woman who failed to give two samples of breath after being suspected of drinking and driving has been banned from the road for two years at Jedburgh Sheriff Court.

Rachel Etherington, 51, Melrose, pleaded guilty to the offence which happened near her home on New Year's Day.

Depute fiscal Miriam Clark told the court that a witness out walking at around 2.15pm saw Etherington in her Honda Jazz vehicle and she appeared to be overly concentrating on driving.

The woman formed the view that Etherington had been drinking alcohol.

She went to her home but Etherington was not there. When she looked through the window she could see empty wine bottles so she contacted the police.

Ms Clark said that when police arrived at Etherington's home at around 4.30pm the car was parked outside but she did not respond when they knocked at her door and rang the bell.

Ms Clark continued: "They looked through the window and they could see her lying on the couch with multiple bottles of wine around her.

"She answered the door and officers could detect a strong smell of alcohol coming from the accused.

"She admitted she had been driving the car and then stated she had recently had a drink of wine. "

The court heard the roadside breath test machine was not working but she failed the test with a new machine.

However when Etherington was taken to Hawick Police Station and was asked to provide two specimens of breath she would repeatedly breathe too hard and did not comply with giving the samples.

Defence lawyer Colin Severin said the mother-of-two had been struggling with alcohol dependency issues and had relapsed around New Year.

He added that she had stopped drinking and was hoping to return to work soon after being signed off sick.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he would have disqualified Etherington from driving for 30 months but reduced it to 24 months due to the guilty plea.

He also ordered her to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.