ACCOUNTS clerk Linda Smart, who defiantly refused to pay a £20 fixed penalty ticket after being stopped by police for swigging water from a bottle while driving, has been found guilty of not being in control of her car.

North Wiltshire Magistrates sitting at Chippenham on Friday fined her £40.

But Mrs Smart, 28, of Horsebrook, Calne, who opted to have her case heard by magistrates, said after the case she was happy to have made the stand on a principle.

Her defiance after PC Michael Owen caught her drinking from a water bottle as she pulled away from traffic lights at the Bridge Centre junction of Bath Road and Avenue La Fleche in Chippenham on May 18, made national headlines.

Mrs Smart, who was on her way home from The Olympiad to Calne, refused to pay the fixed penalty fine and opted to go to court despite the chance of a fine of up to £1,000.

PC Owen, based at Police Headquarters in Devizes, told magistrates: "I saw her tip her head back and my first thought was that she had been struck from behind by another vehicle.

"My concern was that she was unaware of what was occurring in front of her.

"The slightest lack of concentration can cause the most tragic and fatal crashes."

He said he followed Mrs Smart and eventually stopped her in London Road.

In her defence, Mrs Smart said: "I wasn't travelling more than a couple of metres with the bottle.

"I don't believe I was a harm to anybody."

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Smart said she was happy with the decision.

She said she had pleaded not guilty on principle.

"I have made a stand," she said.

"I just want to say to people out there to watch out because if they can fine me for this, then there are a lot of £20 fines to be made out of people on the roads."

She thanked the many people who sent her letters of support and money to pay her fine in the event of her being found guilty and said she will be donating the money to charity.

Solicitor David Sharr, said if Mrs Smart had been drinking while driving for 30 to 40 metres, as PC Owen claimed, this would have been over a time span of nearly 10 seconds, which he didn't think was conceivable. "It is not a bad verdict. I think the magistrates have looked on her very favourably because she could have had a fine of up to £1,000."