A SHOP assistant who conned more than £3,000 in refunds out of Worcester's Marks & Spencer store has been warned he faces jail.

Mark Bailey was working in the High Street shop's menswear department when he embarked on his three-month fraud spree.

The 20-year-old was placed under surveillance when staff realised a massive number of refunds were being put through the till on his section.

"Following the report of irregularities with regards to the high number of refunds which were being credited to his Switch card, the loss investigator employed by M&S commenced investigations," said Kiernan Cunningham, prosecuting at Droitwich Magistrates Court.

"In November, the loss protection officer observed Bailey by way of the in-store CCTV system.

"He was working on a till in menswear when he proceeded to select a number of items from the display and then scanned them through the till. It was done in a manner that suggested he was refunding them, having been recently purchased.

"Of course, the goods hadn't been purchased by anyone, least of all Bailey."

The transaction on Friday, November 16 was worth £309. The cash went straight into Bailey's current account.

By checking M&S records and Bailey's bank account, police discovered that he had performed similar offences on 10 other occasions.

But Bailey, of Nelson Road, St John's, Worcester, claimed he could not remember the transactions.

At court yesterday, he admitted four charges of deception between August and November amounting to £1,223.

He asked for another seven, worth £1,783, to be taken into consideration.

Bailey's mother sobbed as Martha Recordon, defending, said he was aware he could face up to a year behind bars.

The bench adjourned his case until Friday, February 8, warning: "We've ordered pre-sentence reports with a custodial sentence in mind."