An accounts assistant ripped off the Evans Halshaw Ford car dealership she worked for and was only caught after she went on maternity leave.

Andrea Gibson embezzled £248,652 from the Pendragon-owned dealership in Cumbernauld Road, Glasgow, including creating credit notes for Ford UK that paid funds into the same personal bank account that her wages were being paid into.

Gibson admitted committing the crimes between March 2015 and March 2018 when she appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court last week.

The court was told she was caught by the dealership's financial controller after Gibson went on maternity leave in January 2018. Gibson initially denied stealing money but confessed after Ford UK conducted its own investigation.

The BBC reports that prosecutor Debbie Carroll said: "She forged and falsified documents and manipulated the accounts of the company in an attempt to cover her activities and avoid detection."

She added: "Gibson stated her brother had a gambling debt and didn't know what to do. She made reference that she would return the money.

"Gibson stated she only transferred money into one account and she couldn't confirm the exact amount.

"She then handed over a hand-written resignation letter."

In police interviews Gibson refused to comment.

In her defence, the court was told Gibson, 31, was now an unemployed mother of one, studying childcare at college, and is "well aware" that she could be sent to prison.

She was granted bail ahead of a sentencing hearing next month.