The pair –– who cannot be named for legal reasons –– were described as 'heavily in drink' by a landlord who spotted them at a town centre pub.

The baby boy, who was taken into foster care after the incident, had a dirty face, a soiled nappy, his clothes were wet through and he had clearly not been changed for some time.

He was also described by police as being hungry and officers found a 'filthy bottle containing sour milk' in the pushchair.

His parents admitted being drunk in charge of a child when they appeared before Mansfield magistrates on Thursday and have started treatment for alcoholism.

The court was told the pair were asked to leave a Leeming Street pub at around 7.30pm on 23rd September, as the venue's policy was not to allow children in during the evening.

When asking them to leave, the landlord became concerned for the safety of the child and informed CCTV operators, who kept an eye on them before contacting the police.

The boy's mother was pushing his pushchair in 'a very careless manner' and was 'tipping it from side to side'.

When police arrived she became abusive and aggressive and refused to hand the child over to officers before the pair were both arrested.

In mitigation, Mark Stocks said the pair had gone into town to have a couple of drinks, but 'one thing led to another' and they ended up 'drinking for some seven hours'.

"They both have an acknowledged problem with alcohol and both have some form of dependency to it," he said.

Mr Stocks told magistrates the couple had made good progress in dealing with their alcoholism and this had been recognised by social services.

He added that officers were so pleased with their progress that they planned to take the child out of foster care and place him back with his parents before Christmas.

The boy's mother is currently subject to a community order imposed in June 2007 for two charges of being drunk and disorderly, common assault and breach of a conditional discharge.

Magistrates warned the couple they were not ruling out the option of custody and adjourned the case until 4th December to allow probation officers to prepare reports.

A Nottinghamshire Social Services spokesman told Chad this week: "The county council is taking action to ensure the baby is safe and he is currently in foster care."