POSTMAN Paul Lambert added up to £100 a week to his wage for six months by stealing from mail he was supposed to deliver.

Magistrates in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, heard how complaints began to be received about missing mail on Lambert's round.

Andrew Gold, prosecuting, said Lambert, 37, of Butler Road, Harrogate, who had worked for Royal Mail since 1995, was put under surveillance. On December 11, he was seen to take 111 items from mail waiting to be sorted and put them in his delivery pouch with his regular post.

When Lambert was challenged, he ran from the sorting office, so security staff went to his mother's home in Harrogate, where his Royal Mail jacket was found to contain three stolen items, including a gift voucher.

The next day, Lambert confessed and said he had been stealing for six months, targeting coloured, greeting card-type envelopes and getting between £50 and £100 a week from them.

Lambert's solicitor, Geoffrey Rogers, said his client had not made a vast amount of money, £2,400 at the most.

When interviewed, he told police: "I have to be honest, there is not really a lot of value in it. That is why I just got stupid."

Lambert pleaded guilty to three charges of theft, and magistrates ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared.

Lambert was warned that all options, including jail, would be considered when he is sentenced on April 2.