Magistrates have told a man that he could have been banned from keeping animals for life after he was found guilty of abandoning his two pets.

Roy Bell, 29, appeared at Bishop Auckland Magistrates Court yesterday to be sentenced following a trial last month.

He was charged with leaving his pet cat and gerbil in his home without food and water for 91.4 hours. The cat was rescued but the gerbil died following the ordeal.

Chair of the bench James Brown said that he and his colleagues had been appalled when they heard how Bell, of Dale Street, Chilton, had abandoned the female tortoiseshell cat and gerbil in September, last year.

Bell was banned from keeping animals for five years and fined £100 for each of the two offences. He was also ordered to pay £200 towards the costs which totalled £2,600.

Mr Brown said Magistrates would have liked to have given him a stiffer sentence but could not because of Bell's income and the fact that he was too ill to work.

Mr Brown said: "This sentence might appear to other people as being light but it is only because of the restraints we are under with the amount of money you have and the contents of the probation report.

"We were absolutely appalled that those poor little animals were left alone. You will be banned from keeping any kind of animals for five years but this possibly should have been for life because of the torment you put those little animals through.''

Inspector Garry Palmer, the RSPCA officer dealing with the case said that he was pleased with Bell's sentence.

He said: "He left those animals without food and water and these are the basic requirements that they need to survive. Because of his actions one animal died and another could easily have done so if the RSPCA had not intervened.''