An unpaid train fare has cost a Crosland Moor woman more than 30 times the original ticket price.

Melissa Wilkinson pleaded guilty to boarding a train without a valid ticket when she appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

The offence occurred on August 2, 2016 when the 21-year-old was travelling from Guiseley to Leeds.

She explained to magistrates that the queue for the ticket machine was very busy and so she just go onto the train, as she had done previously.

The ticket would have cost her just £3.70.

Wilkinson, of Church Avenue, was fined in her absence following a hearing in January but magistrates accepted her explanation that she was only recently informed about her conviction.

They fined her £40 and ordered her to pay £50 court costs and £30 victim surcharge plus the cost of the original fare.