A WOMAN accused of stealing from her employer claims she was entitled to the money under a verbal agreement with her boss.

Louise Ward is alleged to have taken £3,882 during the time she was the in-house accountant/secretary for Rosedale Utilities Ltd, of Chilton Industrial Estate, Chilton, near Ferryhill.

Appearing at a plea hearing, at Durham Crown Court, she denied a charge of theft of the money, between November 2015, and April, last year.

Asked by Judge Christopher Prince if she accepted having received the money, her counsel, John Turner, confirmed she did, but she claimed that it was down to an agreement with one of her employers.

He said the amount involved is agreed, and it would be a case of calling her bosses, the co-directors of the company, to give evidence.

The case was adjourned for a trial at the court, to start on Tuesday October 9, and Judge Prince granted the 37-year-old defendant, of Tyne View, Gateshead, bail in the intervening period.