A 41-year-old man found with a lock knife claimed he used it on an allotment, but a judge said it was not a gardening implement.

Burnley Magistrates Court had been told how Alan Bleasdale was seen with the knife handle sticking out of his pocket by a police officer. The knife had a blade of two-and-a-quarter inches and was extended.

District Judge P Ward said he accepted the defendant used the knife at his father's allotment, but lock knives were "a vicious sort of thing, very dangerous things".

Bleasdale, of Oat Street, Padiham, admitted having an article with a sharply pointed blade in public. He was fined £75, with £50 costs and the judge ordered the knife be forfeited and destroyed.

The court was told when the defendant was interviewed by police, he accepted he had appeared to be under the influence of drink, but wasn't drunk. Bleasdale could not remember if the knife was open in his pocket.

Peter Reynolds, defending, said Bleasdale had been stopped on his way home. He had been working at the allotment and had got into the habit of taking the knife home with him.

He would say the handle was broken, the knife wouldn't lock and that was why it was extended in his pocket. There was no suggestion he threatened anybody.