A DRIVER who ploughed through a fence and abandoned a car in a field with a tree on top of it has narrowly avoided a ban.

Lorna Silcock, of Heywood Close, Alderley Edge, admitted failing to stop after an accident on Sunday, April 28, this year, and failing to report it to police.

The 35-year-old was handed an 18-month community order, including six months mental health treatment, at Chester Crown Court on November 11.

Silcock had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Chester Magistrates’ Court on August 8 before the case was adjourned for sentencing.

A judge endorsed her driving licence with eight penalty points and ordered her to pay £150 costs.

A driver can receive a driving ban if they accumulate 12 or more penalty points on their licence within a three-year period.

Cheshire Police received a call from a member of the public stating that she had seen a vehicle abandoned in a field at 1.20pm on April 28, this year, the court heard.

Police found a Kia Sportage had gone through a fence, near a hedge, in a field on Wilmslow Road, Mottram St Andrew.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “Officers examined the car and found two half drank bottles of Vodka on the front passenger seat and documents in the vehicle from the hire company stating the car was rented to a Lorna Silcock.”

Officers contacted the hire company who confirmed that Silcock was the driver on the hire agreement.

Police called at the defendant’s addresses and workplace to try and trace her but without success.

Hospital checks also failed to find her.

Two days later, on April 30, police received a call from a solicitor saying she had spoken to Silcock’s mother.

The defendant said she would be willing to attend a police station but no-one knew where she was.

Officers said Silcock came to a police station on May 2, shortly after 10am, where she was seen ‘safe and well’.

She later confirmed that she was driving the car at the time of the crash and had failed to stop at the scene or report the incident.