POLICE recovered a .22 Brocock revolver from a Blackburn address after an early morning swoop, a court heard.

But Blackburn magistrates were told that Stephen Farrell had found the weapon when he was walking his dog the night before.

And he told officers he intended to hand the gun in after he finished work that night.

Farrell, 40, of St George's Avenue, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm without a certificate and possession of a firearm within five years of a prison sentence. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £65 costs.

The court heard that Farrell was stopped as he cycled to work early on the morning of April 3 last year. He returned to his home with the police and directed them to the gun which was wrapped in a towel, inside a motorcycle helmet.

John Wood, prosecuting, said the cylinder of the revolver was jammed but it was loaded with four live rounds of ammunition .

Simon Farnsworth, defending, said St George's Avenue backs on to the canal and Farrell had been walking his dog there the previous night when it began sniffing in long grass.

"He recovered the gun from the grass and thought it was some kind of an air pistol or a replica," said Mr Farnsworth. "As you have heard, it was jammed and didn't work and appeared to have been there for some time."