A judge has imposed an interim driving ban on a woman who took her partner's car without permission – and then crashed into three houses, causing damage that will cost £13,000 to put right.

At Carlisle's magistrates court, Carlie Hancock, 28, admitted three offences: failing to report an accident, uninsured driving, and aggravated vehicle taking.

Prosecutor Pam Ward told how residents in the city's Greystone Road area were woken on the morning of April 8 by a loud bang.

When they investigated, they saw that Hancock had crashed into a series of terraced properties in the street and was reversing the car as she desperately tried to extricate it from the crash scene.

One witness intervened, opening the driver's door.

He was confronted by Hancock, of Botcherby Avenue, who told him: “I know what I've done.”

Mrs Ward said: “She was still trying to move the vehicle.”

At the same time, the witness saw a woman and a man get out of the crashed car.

Mrs Ward said: “Another female heard a loud bang and on checking saw a white Audi on the wrong side of Greystone Road.

There was substantial damage to the three terraced buildings that the vehicle had collided with.”

The damage also affected a wall and fencing.

Mrs Ward said the defendant's partner had earlier been drinking at home and told police that the car's keys would have been in the kitchen.

He said he would not have handed Hancock the keys because he knew she was uninsured. Mrs Ward confirmed that the victims had submitted compensation claims for the damage amounting to £13,000.

At the time she took the Audi, said Mrs Ward, Miss Hancock had not been drinking and the car's owner had been asleep in bed.

The prosecutor confirmed that Hancock is a lady of previous good character.

District Judge Gerald Chalk said his powers of sentencing would not be sufficient and he committed the case to Carlisle Crown Court for a hearing on September 23.

In the meantime, he imposed a temporary driving ban.

He also ordered the preparation of background reports on Hancock.