A RARE night out for single mum Nicola Lowe went badly wrong after she allowed a mystery man called “Bert” to drive her car.

The man crashed her Ford Mondeo into bollards in an Ely street, and police later discovered he had no insurance to drive the vehicle.

At Ely courthouse, 26-year-old Lowe admitted that she permitted someone to drive her car in King’s Avenue in Ely without insurance on January 30. She was fined �100 with �70 costs and a �15 surcharge, and six points were endorsed on her driving licence.

Prosecuting, Penny Cannon said Lowe had given false details when first seen by police, but soon admitted her true identity. She was breathalysed, but a witness told officers that a man had been driving at the time of the accident.

Mrs Cannon continued: “She had known she was over the alcohol limit, so Bert had driven, there was a collision and both left the scene.”

Mitigating, Michael Judkins said Lowe, of the Orchards, Sutton, had been offered the rare opportunity of a girls’ night out; but had become separated from her friends.

A man had offered to walk her back to a friend’s house, where she had left her car, and they had sat in the vehicle because no one was at home.

He continued: “He suggested they went for a drive, and foolishly she agreed. Her judgement was impaired because she had too much to drink.

“The gentleman was sober, and his intentions were honourable, it was her judgement that was impaired.”