POLICE drew a blank when they searched a house after the occupant said she had heard her estranged partner's voice.

Blackburn magistrates heard she had apologised for the "false alarm" when the officers heard banging.

And when they searched the attic they found Paul Lomax who was subject to a restraining order which prohibited him from attending the property.

Lomax, 39, of Washington Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to breaching the order by attending a house in Queens Road West.

He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £30 victim surcharge.

Parveen Akhtar, prosecuting, said an officer attended after the occupant reported she could hear her ex-partner outside the house.

She told the officer she thought it might be a false alarm because while she thought she had heard his voice she hadn't seen him.

"The officers carried out a search but couldn't find anyone," said Miss Akhtar.

"They went outside and were about to leave when they heard banging and went back in. This time they found the defendant in the loft."

Gareth Price, defending, said that, unusually, the defendant's former partner lived with his mother. Lomax was banned from the address by the restraining order and was also banned from NHS properties, including doctor's surgeries unless they had additional security in place.

"He needed some medication and his mum said there was some in his belongings which had been stored in the loft," said Mr Price. "She said his ex-partner was out and he should come and have a look. He was in the attic when the aggrieved came back and he immediately knew he was in difficulties.

"Whether his mother gave him permission or not, it is a court order and he shouldn't have been there," said Mr Price.