A mother who admitted she had smoked cannabis for 16 years was given a "pack it in" warning by a judge yesterday.

Lisa Blakemore is teetotal and prefers nights in to a night on the town.

But Teesside Crown Court heard how police seized £120 of cannabis when they raided her Stockton home on December 23, said Paul Newcombe, prosecuting.

They also found 200 plastic bags, a grinder and a radio scanner tuned in to police wavebands. She said the cannabis was for her own use, and that she divided it into daily amounts for herself.

Police raided the house again a week later after observing a suspicious transaction, and found a very small amount of cannabis and the radio scanner again tuned in to police messages.

Blakemore, 36, said she was allowing her house to be used by others and herself to smoke cannabis.

Tim Gittins, defending, said: "She has a five-year-old child and there is no suggestion that her smoking cannabis has affected her ability to bring up that child.

"She is teetotal and is someone who simply enjoys her own company - and that of her friends - at home.

"She has been smoking cannabis for 16 years."

Judge Les Spittle told Blakemore: "As far as these courts are concerned, the possession and use of cannabis is prohibited and constitutes a criminal offence.

The judge added: "If you do not want to get locked up, do not persist in acting against the law in this way."

Blakemore of Parliament Street, Stockton, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order after she pleaded guilty to allowing premises to be used for the smoking of cannabis.