A former receptionist at a newspaper office has been ordered to pay compensation to a local press publisher after stealing £8,052.

Mum-of-three Sarah Neale, of Broom Acre, South Normanton, Derbyshire, started work for the Hucknall Dispatch last September.

But the 29-year-old was later sacked from her job at the newspaper’s office in Yorke Street, Hucknall for gross misconduct.

She was subsequently arrested and charged with theft from her employer.

At a hearing at Nottingham Magistrates Court, she pleaded guilty to stealing £8,052 between Tuesday March 1 and Wednesday July 27 this year.

She was sentenced to 100 days in prison, which was suspended for a year.

Neale was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work in the community and to pay £1,000 in compensation to Wilfred Edmunds Ltd, the division of Johnston Press which publishes the Dispatch.

Neale had entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity and this was taken into consideration by the Bench when passing sentence.