A WOMAN who took to the wheel while banned had been disqualified from driving only the month before.

Burnley magistrates heard former taxi driver Debra Ann Webb, 39, had earlier lost her licence for 18 months for drink-driving.

Webb, of Southfield Street, Nelson, admitted driving while disqualified and using an uninsured vehicle.

She was given 150 hours' community punishment and banned for six months, to run at the same time as the current court order.

Lyn Slater, defending, said Webb was an ordinary, responsible and respectable woman of ability.

She worked and supported herself and was hoping to be promoted to superviser at work.

The defendant had been trying to sell the car and drove it to a supermarket to fill it with petrol. It was a mistake and she knew it.

The vehicle had not been sold so there was no prospect of Webb driving whatsoever. She had learned her lesson.

Mrs Slater said if the defendant was sent to custody she would lose her job and home and would be reliant on benefits when she came out.

Webb had an alcohol problem in the past, but it had not prevented her from working. She would be a positive influence on others if she was given community punishment and would pay her penalty to society at the same time.