A 34-year-old man who went to collect his wages on a Friday lunch time found himself locked out when he got home at 6.15pm after drinking 10 pints of lager.

Hyndburn magistrates heard that Mark Beardmore smashed several panes of glass with a garden rake and threw a bottle into the house, narrowly missing his partner, during the disturbance that followed.

And the court was told the incident had been the final straw in a turbulent relationship which he accepted was now over.

Beardmore, of Accrington Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty at Hyndburn magistrates to criminal damage. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report with a warning that custody would be a consideration for the sentencing bench.

Philippa White, prosecuting, said Beardmore had phoned his partner, Katrina Reeves, before setting off for home and she could tell he was drunk.

"She refused to answer the door because she didn't want him in the house," having taken her daughter upstairs she returned to the kitchen where he had been banging loudly on the door. He picked up a rake and smashed several panes of glass and while she was stood there a bottle came flying through one of the broken windows."

Alfred Rebello, defending, said Beardmore had become frustrated when his partner would not open the door.

"He accepts that he has a drink problem and that the relationship, which hasn't been working for some time, is now at an end."