A FEMALE burglar who used her victim's car as a getaway vehicle wrecked it as she drove off with her haul, a court heard yesterday.

Kelly Louise Steer, 21, woke a woman neighbour at 4.25am when she crashed the car outside a house in Stockton.

The woman saw the Peugeot car in the middle of the road, facing the wrong way after colliding with a traffic bollard, said Richard Purcell, prosecuting.

The woman went outside and saw Steer removing property from the car. She alerted the police and they found Steer near the abandoned vehicle.

She was carrying stolen electrical items and paintings, and more items were recovered from nearby bushes, Teesside magistrates heard.

Muddy footprints from Steer's trainers were found in the burgled house, in Durham Road, Stockton, and also in the car, said Mr Purcell.

Steer, of Waldridge Road, Hardwick, Stockton, pleaded guilty to the burglary on October 4, aggravated vehicle taking and driving without insurance and a licence.

She also admitted the thefts of clothes worth £170 in June from Debenhams and Binns stores, in Middlesbrough, and two offences of obstructing police by giving a false name.

She was remanded in custody and committed to Teesside Crown Court for sentence.