A sub-postmaster living in Chessington removed £32,000 from the tills in just two months last year.

When auditors discovered the money was missing, Sivaprakasam Sritharan, 46, of Hartfield Road, claimed he never intended to keep it and paid it back immediately.

He told Isleworth Crown Court that he wanted the money to refurbish his shop and sub-post office in West Ealing. He admitted two charges of false accounting but denied theft.

Prosecutor Richard Jory said the Crown was willing to accept the pleas because the money had been recovered.

The loss was discovered when post office auditors made a spot check, their suspicions having been raised by the defendant's accounting.

Ranjeet Dulay, defence counsel, said his client had lost his job at the sub-post office as a result of his crime and was now struggling to find other work. Health problems, he added, had been exacerbated by the stress of court proceedings.

The judge, recorder Arthur Brigden, told Sritharan last Friday that had the charge of theft been proved he "would be going straight to prison".

Instead, he gave him an 18-month community order during which he must do 100 hours of unpaid work and attend employment advocacy for up to 20 days.