A SHOP worker who stole more than £9,000 from her bosses must say how she can pay it back — with the help of her daughters who received the money.

Julie Edgar, 53, took the cash from the till of the Spar shop over seven months and largely spent it on her grown-up children, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Edgar, who took the cash from the branch in Tavistock, arrived at court with a bag packed for prison.

But Judge Graham Cottle adjourned sentence for a week to give the family time to say how they would repay the shop owner.

He told her: 'Your children have the money, they can pay it back. You had better have some pretty in-depth discussions over the next seven days.'

The court heard staff had missed out on pay rises because the money had been stolen.

Some workers had to commute to Tavistock from the West Hoe branch to cover for Edgar because there was no money to hire a replacement.

Ravi Jhangiani, who owns both Spar shops, said after the hearing: 'We feel she has let us down. We treated her more like a member of the family than a member of staff.'

Edgar, of Maynard Park, Bere Alston, admitted a single charge of theft of £9,389 between January 28 and August 28 last year.

Alistair Verheijen, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said she helped customers pay for their utility bills in cash.

But he said she continually rung up lower amounts in the till and pocketed the difference.

Edgar had previously faced 16 equivalent charges of stealing money on 114 occasions.

Mr Verheijen said managers noticed there was a continual shortfall in till receipts and found the discrepancy was usually at Edgar's till.

Jason Beal, for Edgar, said she was on benefits and could only pay back £50 a month to the business.

He added she had spent most of the money on her daughters.

Mr Beal said: 'Her former partner, their father, had died and this was simply a way of filling the gap for them.'

He added she had built up debts of £4,000 since being dismissed from the store.

Judge Cottle released her on bail until Friday, May 24 when she will be sentenced.