A TRUSTED warden at a Lake District cottage complex has been handed a suspended prison term after admitting a £7,600 rent theft.

Janet Heap, 45, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for a crime she committed over several months in 2015 while working for Goodly Dale Cottage Homes in Windermere.

Heap, an employee at the warden-controlled almshouses for two decades, had been responsible for collecting rent from residents. But she failed to deposit cash and cheques totalling £7,617.

She admitted one theft charge and received an eight-month jail sentence which Judge Peter Hughes QC suspended for two years.

Heap had believed she did bank the cash and cheques but, the court heard, there was no official record of such deposits. None of the cheques were ultimately cashed, and no residents incurred any loss - only Goodly Dale.

For Heap, a woman of previous good character, the fallout was said to have been "devastating". She had since lost her job and the on-site home in which she had lived with her family.

Heap, now of Holme Lyon, Burneside, must also complete 120 hours' unpaid work and pay compensation.

Judge Hughes told her: "This was a significant breach of trust on your part."