A MAN committed fraud to the tune of £88,404 to pay off a credit card debt after getting into a relationship with a work colleague.

Alan Thompson, a stickler for paper based accounting, said he had fallen foul of "a female who had taken him to the cleaners".

The 65-year-old's fraud was unearthed when he was replaced at Gedore UK, in Marton Street, Skipton, by a new financial accountant and company secretary.

The offences happened at the company, which imports and distributes tools, when he was carrying out the job between April 2009 and March 2013.

Thompson, of Green Way, Glusburn, who pleaded guilty at Skipton Magistrates' Court, was told by the bench that their powers were not enough to deal with him and he must go to Bradford Crown Court for sentence, on Friday, November 28. He was given unconditional bail.

The bench heard that Thompson had worked for the company for more than 20 years and the discovery of the fraud was met with disbelief by the founders of the firm. He had been "trusted implicitly".

But he had begun a relationship with a fellow employee, had built up credit card debt and had paid himself sums of money to service the debt.

The discrepancies came to light after the company changed from paper-based accountancy to one using computers, going fully computerised in 2013.

He was unable to keep pace with the changes and in 2013 was offered a severance package, agreeing to a sum of £9,000.

An investigation by the new company accountant revealed that Thompson had paid himself £10,000 instead of £9,000.

Further probing of the records unearthed a number of other discrepancies, including one of £20,000.

Nat West Bank was instructed to carry out an audit and a further almost £60,000 transaction to his personal account was unable to be explained, magistrates were told.

At his request, his bosses agreed to give him chance to pay back what he owed after he promised to meet the sum from his pension, but a cheque he made out was returned unpaid.