A DRIVER pursued in a 15-minute police chase through the streets of Beckenham admitted a string of motor offences to Bromley magistrates.

Rachael Crompton, aged 30, of Upper Park Road, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol, failing to stop for a police officer, failing to give a correct name when stopped, and driving without insurance, on the night of November 11 last year.

The court heard when she was finally halted by officers in Westmoreland Road, she refused to open the car door before falsely claiming her name was Rachael Watson.

Officers who performed a breathalyser test reported that initially she refused to blow down the tube and tried to suck instead. She then failed to produce a driving licence, which she claimed she had lost.

Miss Compton told magistrates her high alcohol level was caused by one glass of wine she had drunk at a friend's house earlier that night.

She said the friend was upset by a row with her boyfriend and had asked Miss Compton to take her car to pick up the boyfriend from a pub in Beckenham.

Miss Compton said she had committed the offences in a panic after seeing her own ex-partner in the High Street and she regretted her actions.

She added she had no idea the car was uninsured.

Magistrates warned Miss Compton it was only through the mitigating circumstances she had avoided a jail sentence.

She received an 18-month driving ban, endorsements on her licence and a fine of £300 with £55 costs.