Laura Palmer left her children to go clubbing (file picture)

A mother who admitted leaving her young children alone in squalor as she went for clubbing has been given a suspended jail sentence.

On Friday, a judge at Hull Crown Court heard how Laura Palmer's children, who are three, four and seven years old, were discovered by neighbours outside in the street, naked and covered in excrement.

Unemployed Palmer was found drunk, hiding in a shed outside her home in the Sutton area of Hull, after she returned from her night out to see police waiting for her.

Inside, officers found a house which was full of faeces, rubbish and discarded food - described as "uninhabitable" for children.

In contrast, Palmer preened herself with trendy clothes, hair extensions and false nails.

The court confirmed on Monday the 26-year-old has been given a suspended prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to child cruelty last week.

The court heard how Palmer put the children to bed at 11.30pm on June 13 last year, then went out drinking.

She claimed she fell asleep on a friend's settee.

The youngsters told police how they climbed out of the house through a window.

A social worker told the court how she visited the house a month before the incident but the state of the property was worse when she saw it after Palmer's arrest.

According to the Hull Daily Mail, the judge, Recorder Paul Miller, told Palmer: "In the future put your children first - not having a good time."

Palmer, now of Stroud Crescent West, Hull, admitted three counts of cruelty to a person under 16 years between December 31, 2010 and June 14, 2011.

She was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a 12-month supervision order.