An assistant town clerk has been jailed for four years for stealing more than £200,000 from Rugeley Town Council.

Rebecca Mason has been found guilty of stealing £218,418 from the council by way of false accounting.

She made 242 separate payments between 18 February 2017 and 10 December 2018 from the council’s accounts into her own savings account.

Her crime was discovered when a clerk from another parish council raised concerns over the number of money transfers that had been taking place on a monthly basis.

Detective Constable Nick Gorman, of Staffordshire Police, said: ‘This was a significant amount of money that was stolen from the public purse by Rebecca Mason who dishonestly abused her position for her own financial gain in this case.

’Although she pleaded guilty at the first opportunity she knows this was a betrayal of trust that continued for some time.’