A CASHIER pilfered money from her employer while being watched by security cameras, magistrates in Worcester were told.

Peter Tooke, prosecuting, said Vanessa Jones had been accused of stealing £250 and £10 from Larkhill Service Station, in Worcester's London Road on Monday, July 31.

She was supposed to drop plastic "pods" containing cash into a safe under the floor.

"During the afternoon the defendant called the manager to say she was feeling ill and wanted to go home," said Mr Tooke.

"The next morning two till receipts were found in a waste bin. One was for £250 and timed at 3.12pm. The other was for £600 and timed at 5.15pm."

At 3.11pm CCTV cameras monitored Jones counting money, said Mr Tooke, who played the video tape during the trial.

No pod corresponding to the "drop" was found and there was no entry in the log.

A pod containing £590 had been put in the safe. The prosecutor said the missing £10 had been stolen.

Kathleen Rosser, the garage manager, said Jones had asked to go home early during her shift, because of illness.

"She seemed very agitated and pushed past me, saying 'I've got to get out of this place'," she told the court.

Jones, who denied both charges, said she was "100 per cent sure" she had put the £250 in the pod and then into the safe.

The 22-year-old said she had put the receipts in the bin because she had forgotten to include them with the cash deposits.

"I was feeling very ill and fell to the floor twice," she said, and showed a doctor's note to the court.

Andrew Childs, defending, said there were no eyewitnesses or forensic evidence against her.

He urged the court to acquit his client.

The magistrates found Jones, of Gresham Road in Dines Green, guilty of stealing £250 but not of the £10. They asked for pre-sentence reports and bailed Jones to return to court on Tuesday, December 12.