Wellington, Nov 18 NZPA - A woman blamed her mouthwash when stopped by police for driving a car whilst almost three times the alcohol limit.

Shona Ann Connor 42, of Invercargill, who had a five-year-old in the car with her, was sentenced to 100 hours' community work and banned from driving for nine months when she appeared in Invercargill District Court yesterday, The Southland Times reported.

Connor who had a breath-alcohol count of 1076mcg was told by Judge Kevin Phillips she was lucky not to have heart failure. NZPA WGT dj nb