POLICE who arrested a drunken woman in the toilets at Morrisons on Tuesday afternoon were unaware that she had left her 20-month-old child with fellow drinkers on Blackburn Boulevard.

Blackburn magistrates heard that when the child was discovered he was in a distressed state, dehydrated and hungry, and in the care of two drunken males.

The boy's mother later told police she could remember drinking sherry outside Morrisons and then nothing until she woke up in a cell.

Joanne Chambers, 21, of Laxey Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly in Railway Road and having responsibility for Keiran Chambers, caused him to be exposed to unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

She was given a conditional discharge for 18 months after the magistrates heard she was already subject to a community rehabilitation order imposed in May for a similar offence involving a child.

Tom Snape, prosecuting, said Chambers had left home at midday on Tuesday and met up with friends outside the Ice Arena. They went to Morrisons where Chambers bought two bottles of sherry.

"She drank a substantial amount, while her son was sat in the pram, and got into an extremely drunken condition," said Mr Snape.

He said Chambers went to the toilets in Morrisons, leaving the child with friends who were in a similar drunken state, and the police were called after Chambers started screaming.

Officers found her in the toilets banging her head on the floor, shouting and screaming. She had vomited on the floor and was covered in her own urine. "She was incoherent and refused to move," said Mr Snape.

"She was taken into custody and officers subsequently discovered that her baby was still in Railway Road with two drunken males. When a police officer found him he was in a distressed state.

"He was hungry and the officer gave him a drink because he seemed dehydrated. The child had been in the hot sun for quite some time that afternoon."

When sober enough to be interviewed, Chambers admitted neglecting her son and said she wanted him to get foster parents because she was not a good mother.

Basharat Ditta, defending, said there had been a similar incident in May. Keiran had been taken by the social services and placed with Chambers' mother.

Chambers is not allowed unsupervised access.

"My client has problems, some of which go back to her own childhood, and she is now trying to bury those memories in a bottle," said Mr Ditta. "The community rehabilitation order imposed in May is helping and she is responding well."

The magistrates read the pre-sentence report prepared for the May hearing before passing sentence.