A MAN who stole £1,300 in fuel from his company avoided a jail sentence yesterday.

Harrogate magistrates heard how Terrance Edmondson had a fuel credit card given to him by his employers HACS Construction, a Harrogate firm of plant, excavation and groundwork contractors.

But Simon Ostler, prosecuting, said each time Edmondson, 46, visited a filling station in Leeds Road, Harrogate, he got extra fuel for his own vehicle, storing it in cans.

Edmondson, who carried on the scam for the past year of the two-and-a-half years he was working for HACS, pleaded guilty to two offences of theft involving a total of £50 and asked for others totalling £1,250 to be taken into account.

The court heard how the thefts came to light when he went to the filling station twice in six days, rather than his usual once a fortnight, and suspicious staff alerted HACS' management, who called in the police.

In mitigation, Simon Berger, defending, said Edmondson, of Deane Place, Harrogate - who was fired when the scam was uncovered - had been doing something which was common practice among drivers who used their company's vehicles and fuel cards.

"He took a risk the first time, he was not detected and nobody said anything to him. He believed there would be no problem and carried on doing it," said Mr Berger.

Edmondson was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid community work, pay costs of £50 and compensation of £1,300 in the next four weeks.