POLICE who stopped a woman driving though Edgworth found a baseball bat with screws sticking out of one end hidden under a seat.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Victoria Lesley Jackson, 27, claimed she carried the weapon for protection when she was collecting money from rough areas of Manchester.

Jackson, of Hollins Close, Bury, admitted possessing an offensive weapon and was bailed pending a pre-sentence report.

Philip Potter, prosecuting, said police were suspicious of Jackson's demeanour when she was stopped in Edgworth at 11.50pm, although she did not smell of alcohol.

They found a small tin of herbal cannabis and searched the car after Jackson admitted she had smoked some earlier. They found several bags containing small amounts of amphetamine powder.

Mr Potter said she had been cautioned over possession of the amphetamine.

"What you are left to deal with is a person carrying a bat, which has been adapted to make it an offensive weapon," said Mr Potter.

Andrew Haworth, defending, said Jackson worked for a letting agent and while she did not collect rent, she often had to accept deposits off people.

"At one stage she thought she was being followed and her then boyfriend suggested she carry the bat which he provided," said Mr Haworth.

"It was a comfort rather than with any intention of using it."

The amphetamine bags were in the car because Jackson didn't want her parents to find them because they did not know she had a drug habit.