A Nat West bank worker began stealing from her employers on the day she started work - and by the time she was caught she had committed about two hundred thefts, a court heard yesterday.

Victoria Withers (pictured), 36, of Station Road, Woodmancote, near Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to theft of £10,000 from the Nat West bank in Stroud - but the court heard that there was currently a £123,000 'discrepancy' in the bank's accounts she was allegedly responsible for.

Cheltenham Magistrates decided the case was too serious for them to deal with and they committed Withers to Gloucester Crown Court for sentence after she indicated a guilty plea.

The charge being that between January 1, 2012, and October 13, 2017, she stole monies to the value of £10,000 belonging to Nat West Bank.

She also indicated a guilty plea to a charge that she dishonestly committed fraud as an employee of the company between December 31, 2016, and January 31, 2017, to make financial gain for herself by making false entries in the branch's cash reconciliation report so that £123,000 was not shown as a remittance.

Prosecutor Peter Ashby said: "By the very nature of the charges this is a breach of trust. The offences of false accounting were carried out over a period of time and there is a discrepancy of some £123,000.

"In her police statement she admitted that her offending had started from day one but that she had every intention of paying the money back. She believes she undertook around 200 false transactions for her own financial gain.

"She states that the most she ever took in one transaction was £500."

The prosecutor pointed out to the magistrates that the sentencing options were beyond the power of the magistrates court.

Nikki Shaw defending said: "The paperwork surrounding this case is difficult to understand without having access to the relevant exhibits."

Andrew Hill, chairman of the magistrates, said that as the offences were too serious to be dealt with by the justices that they agreed with the prosecutor that the case should be heard at Gloucester Crown Court.

Withers was release on unconditional bail until the crown court hearing on April 9.