A barmaid who stole more than £2,000 from a Dewsbury working men’s club admitted that she had got herself into a “financial pickle.”

Amanda Blakely, 46, was supposed to take the nightly takings to the bank but instead pocked the cash for herself.

District Judge Michael Fanning, sitting in Huddersfield, told her: “You were in a financial pickle and robbed Peter to pay Paul.

“This is a serious matter – if you can’t trust your employees who can you trust and how can a business be run?”

Kirklees Magistrates’ Court heard that Blakely had been employed at Edge Top Working Men’s Club for 12 years but stole £2,412 between August 1 and 15.

She was caught when the club’s vice president became suspicious about money going missing and he confronted her together with other members of the committee.

Blakely pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by employee.

Daniel Metcalfe, mitigating, said that his client had been a well-respected member of the team prior to the incident.

He added: “It was her responsibility to pay money into the bank after totalling the night’s takings and she was having financial difficulties.

“She was extremely distraught when she was summonsed to court when she was under the impression that she would be cautioned at the police station.”

Judge Fanning ordered a probation report prior to sentencing Blakely, of Mountain Road in Thornhill.