Ref. 28722-15RECOVERING alcoholic Rachel Clapp who had a liver transplant six years ago was caught almost four times over the drink drive limit.

Clapp, 32, was behind the wheel of a Fiat Punto when police received reports of a drunk driver.

After she was stopped close to her home in Mildmay Close, Grange Park, she was found to have 134mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath the legal limit is 35mg.

Magistrates imposed a curfew order keeping her under daily house arrest between 10am to 8pm as well as banning her from the road for three years.

But after two months of the punishment she has successfully appealed against the timing of the curfew, getting it changed to an 8pm to 8am night time order.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told the appeal hearing at Swindon Crown court that on Sunday, October 19, the police were informed of a woman driving a Punto who, it was reported, was clearly drunk.

He said that police stopped her in Grange Park.

She was arrested and found to be almost four times above the legal limit.

Mr Meeke said that Clapp was kept in custody overnight before being taken before magistrates the following morning where she pleaded guilty to drink driving.

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report and to allow magistrates to read medical reports before they passed sentence. As well as the three-year driving ban and six-month curfew, the magistrates also ordered her to sit another test before getting her licence back.

Andrew Hobson, for Clapp, said she accepted that the reading was very high and it was a serious matter.

He said that she was a recovering alcoholic and had received a liver transplant in 1998, but was still undergoing medical treatment.

She was seeing a specialist in Birmingham as she was having problems with the liver, Mr Hobson told the court.

He said that she did not appeal against the ban or the principle of a curfew, just the timing of it and the necessity to take a retest.

Because of her alcoholism and ill health he said that the DVLA would insist on medical reports before they allowed her to have her licence back at the end of the ban.

"It seems a little perverse to make her sit another driving test because there is nothing wrong with her driving it's her drinking that was the problem," he said.

Judge John McNaught, sitting with two magistrates, said: "This is a terribly serious matter and it is fortunate that no accident took place.

"The ban is for three years, and we say that is right. She was ordered to take an appropriate driving test. We don't think she should be subject to a further driving test."

He said the daytime curfew was very restrictive and said they took a more lenient view.

Best's long battle with the bottle.

FOOTBALL legend George Best is also a recovering alcoholic who underwent a life-saving liver transplant.

The former Manchester United and Northern Ireland player had the operation in 2002 after his liver, which had been ravaged by alcohol abuse, was only functioning at 20 per cent.

He was warned that further drink could kill him, but just a year after the procedure, Best was arrested in July after drinking in a local pub for several hours. Best was later released without charge but his 31-year-old wife Alex announced last year that their marriage had split because he continued to go on drinking binges.

Alcohol is directly absorbed into the blood stream and compared to other organs in the body, the liver takes in the highest concentration.

The organ is therefore most prone to developing alcohol related problems.

The more you drink and the greater the frequency, the more likely you are to develop advanced forms of liver disease

Although, Best received thousands of messages of support, some people questioned whether he deserved the transplant considering his relapse.

Giles Sheldrick