A pub landlady has been fined for letting a customer fall asleep in a drunken stupor.

Lorraine Cobb, 33, allowed the girlfriend of one of her bar staff to stay in A Town's Pride pub in New Street, Worthing, despite her coming in drunk.

Two police officers visited the pub on the evening of September 9 last year and found the woman sleeping at the bar.

She had two glasses in front of her, one containing Coke and the other an alcoholic drink.

Cobb, of New Street, told the officers the alcoholic drink was hers.

She denied serving the woman alcohol but admitted letting her stay in the pub while waiting for her boyfriend to collect her.

Cobb admitted a charge of permitting drunkenness on the premises when she appeared before Worthing magistrates on Thursday.

Adrian Butt, defending, said: "There were only three other customers in. It was a quiet night.

"The young lady was clearly drunk when she came in. Rather than push her outside into the cold, my client took a reasoned decision to let her stay and wait for her boyfriend.

"She was in a difficult position."

Cobb, who is no longer landlady of the pub, was fined £100 and ordered to pay £70 prosecution costs.