Paris gets probation and £200 fine in drink-driving case

Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton was sentenced to three years probation after pleading no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving, prosecutors said.

Hilton, who was not in court and entered the plea through her attorneys, was also fined $390 (£200) and ordered to attend an alcohol-education program in the case, which stemmed from her arrest in Hollywood last September.

The 25-year-old reality TV star was originally charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol level over California's legal limit of .08.

She pleaded no contest to the lesser charge under a plea agreement with prosecutors and can reduce her probation by a year if she completes 40 hours of community service, Los Angeles City Attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said.

"We felt that this deal was appropriate given the circumstances and we're satisfied with the outcome," Mateljan said.

Those circumstances included Hilton's blood-alcohol level, which was the minimum required for charges.

In California a no contest plea is the legal equivalent of pleading guilty.

Hilton was stopped by police in Hollywood for driving erratically and was arrested after failing a sobriety test.

She later told KIIS-FM radio that she had been to a fund-raising party after a long day shooting a music video and had just one drink.

"I had one margarita (and) was starving because I had not eaten all day. Maybe I was speeding a little bit and I got pulled over," Hilton told the radio station.

"I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out Burger," she said, referring to the popular, California-based fast-food chain.