A 47-year-old woman has admitted cheating the John Lewis company by getting refunds on goods she had not bought there.

Wendy Ochiltree, of Buxton Way, Royal Wootton Bassett, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to defrauding the John Lewis Partnership between February 1 and October 1, 2014, by making a false claim that she was lawfully entitled to claim refunds

Janine Woods, prosecuting, said Ochiltree would purchase goods online from John Lewis but also buy identical goods from other retailers.

She would then get refunds from John Lewis for the items she had not purchased from them.

Over four to five years she had purchased £69,000 worth of goods online but the amount she had obtained fraudulently from John Lewis had been agreed at just £1,202.22, said Mrs Woods.

She also has to be sentenced for a separate case she had admitted at the magistrates' court of returning a Christian Dior make-up box which was found to contain a cheaper brush than the one supplied, added the prosecutor.

Ochiltree is of previous good character, she said.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC bailed Ochiltree until May 3 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

At a previous hearing Joe Maloney, defending, had commented: "She has clearly had some sort of mental health issues."