A 22-year-old employee at a BP service station in Cambridgeshire pleaded guilty to three charges of theft after a shift manager noticed irregularities involving refunds made on cut-price alcohol.

Cambridge magistrates heard that a manager at Dry Drayton Service Station noticed a large number of full-price refunds had been made against cut-price products while the defendant had been on duty. When confronted, the employee admitted to a racket that had enabled him to siphon-off about £400 in excess refund money.

The defence described the scam as amateurish.