A DRUG- addicted mother stole to pay her rent and fund her £15 to £20 a day heroin habit.

Burnley Magistrates heard how Laura Stephenson, 23, helped herself to groceries worth almost £60 and intended to sell the haul.

Stephenson, of Robinson Street, Burnley, admitted theft and was bailed until February 22, for pre-sentence reports. The bench said they had a community-based penalty in mind.

The court was told the defendant had offended due to her drugs problems and there had been one offence per year since she was put on probation in 1998.

At the end of last year, she was evicted was depressed and accepted she turned to drugs again.

Stephenson, who has a five-year-old son, had been put in touch with the community drugs team.