A WELL-KNOWN drunk has been back in court after he caused a nuisance to bus depot employees at 6.30am.

Burnley magistrates heard how Paul Manley, 47, was arrested at the Queensgate Bus Depot on Colne Road in the town.

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Officers recognised the defendant, who they had asked to stay at home the previous night.

He was extremely abusive and was unsteady on his feet.

Manley, of Forest Street, Burnley, admitted being drunk and disorderly on August 30.

He was given a six-month conditional discharge, with £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

The defendant told the Bench he couldn’t pay it as he was not on benefits.

He said: “My family are sick to death of my alcoholism.

“I get money off nice people in the street.”

Manley was detained in the precincts of the court until 12.30pm, in lieu of payment.

Manley,a chronic alcoholic for about a decade, says he has to drink regularly as he claims it is dangerous for him not to.

He had ended up in hospital after suffering alcohol withdrawal seizures when he had cut back.

The defendant’s solicitor David Leach said Manley had previously been made subject of an anti-social behaviour order, banning him from Burnley town centre.

The solicitor said: “He still has to drink.

“It’s a danger to him if he doesn’t drink on a regular basis.

“He has been involved with Inspire and to some degree has made progress as he is not as bad as he was 12 to 18 months ago, when the prognosis was very dim.

“He was in a very bad place and was suffering from a number of ailments.”

Mr Leach added: “He is still getting in trouble with the police, but it is not affecting his health as much as it was 18 months ago.”