A 21-year-old mum who was in a drunken stupor while her children were upstairs has escaped a jail sentence.

A district judge sitting at Blackburn magistrates told Samantha Rhodes she had put her children at risk although no harm had come to them.

And District Judge Jane Goodwin said she accepted Rhodes was ‘doing her utmost’ to put things right.

“You know now that you can’t behave in this way,” said District Judge Rhodes.

The court heard that despite repeated efforts police were unable to rouse Rhodes, who they could see sleeping on her sofa.

When officers forced the front door, because of concerns there may be children in the house, Rhodes still didn’t wake up.

The officer’s fears were confirmed when they found a one-year-old boy in a cot and a two-year-old girl in a bed in the same upstairs bedroom.

They also found a cigarette lighter on the floor of the bedroom.

Rhodes, 21, of Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to two charges of child neglect. She was made subject to community supervision for 12 months and ordered to pay £145 costs.