A SENIOR administrator with Dorset County Council pleaded guilty to being unfit to drive while under the influence of drugs.

Weymouth magistrates heard that Jacqueline Maynard, 33, of Fortuneswell, Portland, had taken prescribed and illegal drugs before being involved in a road traffic accident on October 30, 2000.

She was driving a Nissan Bluebird when the incident occurred just after 10am on Dorchester Road at the bottom of the Ridgeway.

Prosecuting, Peter Tewkesbury said: "The defendant drove across the central white hazard lines and collided with an oncoming vehicle.

"A witness who saw her said she was driving to the left and to the right as if out of control.

"She admitted to a police officer she had taken 20mg of temazepam at 11pm the night before, and 38mg of methadone that morning - one hour before the accident. At Dorset County Hospital tests confirmed there was also a combination of heroin and morphine in her blood."

Defending solicitor, Helen Youings said: "My client took a bend too quickly which resulted in her vehicle being written off, and she had to be cut out of her car.

"She is a single mother with a six-year-old son and sees a counsellor and doctor on a fortnightly basis.

"Following her divorce, she got into an abusive relationship with a man who introduced her to heroin. But she has been on a methadone programme for the past three years.

"A few days prior to the accident, she lapsed and took heroin again. She is now on Prozac to help with depression, and is also on blood-thinning drugs.

"The witness who said she was driving erratically wrongly identified the other vehicle, so perhaps it is not the best information."

Maynard was banned from driving or obtaining a driving licence for a year, fined £250 and ordered to pay £55 costs.