A WOMAN kept 12 cats in appalling conditions in her home, with cubpoards inches deep in faeces, a court was told.

Enid Jackson, 57, yesterday changed her plea to guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animals when she appeared at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court.

Kevin Cooper, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Jackson's home in Staindrop, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, was visited by inspectors last December.

She was out, but the officers could see through windows that the cats were being kept in "appalling conditions".

They returned later and, gaining access, found the kitchen, where the cats were being kept, full of waste and debris.

The court was shown a video of the room and told of the "overpowering" smell.

Mr Cooper said cupboards were inches deep in cat faeces, the floor was wet with urine and the smell of ammonia lingered in the air.

"The environment was completely unfit for any animals to be kept in," he added.

The cats were seized by the RSPCA and treated by a vet, who reported that most were suffering from eye and chest problems. All had soiled coats.

Blood tests showed they had emophilia, caused by an increase in white blood cells as a result of the ammonia.

In mitigation, magistrates were told Jackson had not deliberately set out to harm the cats, but had four jobs and had found it difficult to cope.

Since January, she has taken steps to renovate her home in Sudburn Avenue, Staindrop.

The case was adjourned for sentence to Monday, October 15.