A FARMER who flouted gun laws and had a cavalier attitude towards firearms and ammunition kept a shotgun behind his bedroom door and further weapons and ammunition in his cellar, a court heard.

Police found the stash when they raided the home of John McSorley, of Higher Rhoden Farm, off New Lane, Oswaldtwistle.

Burnley Crown Court heard the farmer had licences for guns but flouted them and would probably never be granted certificates again.

He was fined £1,000 by Judge Raymond Bennett, who said the message must go out that firearms and ammunition should be kept under lock and key at all times.

The judge said laws were in place to ensure weapons did not get into the wrong hands, as someone could easily end up being hurt.

Judge Bennett, who revoked all firearms certificates held by the defendant, also issued a two-year conditional discharge and told McSorley to pay £650 costs. The defendant admitted possessing ammunition and a rifle without a firearms certificate and three counts of failing to comply with a firearms certificate.

Judith McCullough, prosecuting, said in August 2000, police went to the farmhouse with a search warrant. Nobody was at home but officers looked around the property and grounds.

In the cellar, which was unlocked and had access from outside, ammunition, not covered by a firearms certificate, was found locked in a safe. A .22 combination rifle shotgun was also discovered lying on a workbench.

Miss McCullough said the defendant had certificates for other guns but one condition was that the firearms should be stored securely to prevent access by unauthorised persons.

Police found a Yeomans side-by-side 12-gauge shotgun behind a bedroom door. Two further firearms were found in the cellar which in itself was insecure. A Zabala 12-gauge shotgun was lying untidily on a workbench and also on the same bench was an Enfield single-scope rifle with a scope and bayonet.

The prosecutor said McSorley claimed he had lost the keys for the safe in the cellar and had forgotten what he had in there. He told officers he had been shooting with the gun found behind the bedroom door and had left it there as an oversight.

Anthony Cross, defending, said when police arrived, both gun safes in McSorley's house were locked. The other guns and ammunition he was entitled to have were all locked safely away.

The ammunition found in the cellar was in a locked safe. It was incapable of being opened and police had to force their way in.

Mr Cross said the guns discovered by officers in the cellar had been left there by the defendant's late father-in-law with whom he had been shooting.

The barrister added McSorley had guns to protect his livestock.