A MAN out causing a rumpus and shouting in the early hours had too much to drink after the strain of working and looking after his sick father.

Burnley magistrates heard police found Christopher Clough standing in the street without his top on and calling two men smackheads.

He then lunged towards one man and when a police officer tried to intervene, the defendant started to push her.

Clough, of Scotts Terrace, Burnley, admitted being drunk and disorderly and was given a 12-month conditional discharge with £55 costs.

Mark Williams, defending, said Clough's father had had a stroke and lost the use of his legs.

The defendant had been working all day and would then go immediately round to his father's to look after him, Mr Williams added.

Clough worked shifts and the situation had been getting him down. He accepted that he had gone out and had too much to drink.

Mr Williams added the defendant could not recall the problem with the two lads. The abuse had not been directed at the police but at the lads. Clough apologised for the trouble and regretted it.