A SOCIAL club official has admitted stealing £2,465.

Alan Ellison, 37, pleaded guilty to stealing the money from the workingmen's club in Shotton Colliery, near Peterlee, County Durham, during a hearing at Durham Crown Court.

Much of the stolen money is believed to have been taken from fruit machines at the club, between June 2003 and September 2005, when Ellison was treasurer.

Ellison, of previous good character, will be sentenced following preparation of reports by the probation service.

He was bailed to an address in Bruce Glazier Terrace, Shotton Colliery, to return for sentence next month.