A MOTHER from Colne has been accused of taking her partially clothed two year-old-son on an early hours errand after a vodka binge.

Little Sonatel Lomax was only wearing a shirt while his mother Pauline, 47, was banging on the door of Colne's Craddock Road police station, Preston Crown Court was told The mother, of Birtwistle Avenue, has denied cruelty towards Sonatel between July 5 and 8 last year by causing him unnecessary suffering.

Prosecutor David Macro said Lomax had been at home with her daughter on July 6, drinking vodka.

When it got to around 1am Lomax left the house and went to buy another bottle of vodka from a 24-hour garage nearby. Previously her daughter had visited the same store but staff had refused to serve her.

Lomax returned to the garage again, around 3am, and bought another bottle of vodka, said Mr Macro.

Later at around 5am, Sonatel was placed in a pushchair and taken on a mile-long journey by his mother from Birtwistle Avenue to the town's police station.

Mr Macro said Lomax was heard 'banging' on the back door of the police station by officers inside.

Once outside, police saw Lomax, alleged to be drunk, with Sonatel in a pushchair beside her, wearing no pants, underwear or shoes, only a shirt.

Lomax was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and later charged.

Giving evidence in court, 17-year-old Sophie Collier, who was walking home with her boyfriend around 3am, said she saw Lomax outside her Birtwistle Avenue home.

Miss Collier, then 16, said Lomax appeared to be "wobbly" on her feet and livelier than usual.

She told the court: "She came out and then she said she was going to the shop, and she was saying that if we were there when she got back then we could come in for a drink."

Miss Collier said her boyfriend later told her that Lomax had told her that "it was not like she had not had enough already."

Elizabeth Johnson, defending, said Miss Collier could have been confused about the time, and suggested the young couple may have had a disagreement and had not given Lomax's behaviour a second thought.

But Miss Collier, who had stopped for a cigarette outside the defendant's home initially, said: "No - we were in a happy mood."

Proceeding.