TWO women stole groceries worth nearly £200 from a supermarket because 'times were hard'.

Elizabeth Taylor, 61, and 42-year-old Catherine Griffiths landed themselves in court after they attempted to take items from Morrisons in Barrow.

The women blamed the shoplifting incident on Brexit and issues with product supplies, their solicitor said.

Taylor stole £90.63 worth of items and Griffiths took items worth £89.61 from the store in The Strand, South Cumbria Magistrates' Court was told.

Prosecutor Lee Dacre described the incident.

He told the court: "The offences took place on October 20 at 5.35pm.

"Both defendants entered Morrisons with a trolley.

"They were placing items in the trolleys and concealing items in a bag for life.

"They had black bin bags covering the bags."

The court was told the pair hid a number of grocery items in the bags.

They then went to the checkout and paid for some of the items in their trolleys.

As they were leaving they aroused the suspicions of security staff.

Mr Dacre said: "They were stopped by security.

"They had only paid for about a quarter of the items."

Mr Dacre said the pair had both received a penalty notice in 2018 for a shop theft.

"This is not a one-off in other words," he said.

In mitigation, Maureen Fawcett said the pair, who both live in Mill Bank, were struggling financially at the time.

She said: "Ms Taylor is 62 this week and she does suffer from difficulty with mobility.

"She needs someone to help her with her shopping and Miss Griffiths was helping her to put some things away.

"She couldn't afford everything she picked up."

Ms Fawcett said the defendants were struggling to pay for groceries amid product shortages and the impact of Brexit on the economy.

"Times were hard - that was the reason given by both of them," she said.

Magistrates, led by chair of the bench Gary Ormondroyd, fined both of the defendants £80.

"Make sure you don't find yourself back here again," Mr Ormondroyd told them.

"If you persist you will find yourself back here on a more regular basis.

"The options for the court will become more difficult to consider."

Both women are due to pay the money they owe to the court out of their benefits at a rate of £10 per fortnight.