A CARE assistant who kept up to 18 cats has appeared in court because of the stench coming from her home.

Elizabeth Redfern, of Monmouth Avenue, Bury, had been ordered to stop the smells by removing contaminated furniture and keeping her house clean.

But the 56-year-old was charged with repeatedly breaking the terms of an abatement order after officers found that little had changed.

A hearing at Bury Magistrates on Friday was told that a neighbour complained that the smells were seeping into his house in March last year.

When principal environmental health officer Lorraine Chamberlain visited Redfern's property, she noticed a strong ammonia-like smell. She found that the walls, carpets, net curtains and sofa were stained with urine.

Mrs Chamberlain said: "It was one of the worst cases that I have come across. The smell was very acrid and I had it in my nose for hours afterwards. The cats were urinating freely in the property and this was not being cleaned up, compounding the smells that were already there."

In May, Redfern was handed a notice to remove all contaminated furniture and clean the house throughout.

Carpets and some furniture were removed, but there was little evidence of cleaning on several visits in the months that followed.

Odours from the house could still be detected next door when an environmental health officer visited in November.

The court heard that Redfern had kept up to 18 cats, with five hidden in an outhouse, when council staff visited.

Redfern, who last month pleaded guilty to four counts of breaking the order, was found guilty of three further breaches.

She said it was difficult to control the animals while also caring for her two sisters, one partially-sighted and the other suffering with asthma and bronchitis.

Until two months ago she had been working up to 70 hours a week and had little time to clean.

After volunteering to reduce the number of cats in her house to four, Redfern was ordered to pay £150 in costs and given a conditional discharge.

Bill Rees, Bury Council environmental health manager, said: "Miss Redfern has agreed to surrender the remaining cats to the RSPCA with the council's assistance. The situation will continue to be monitored by officers from environment services division."