UK delivery company Royal Mail has charged a postal worker with theft after he admitted to stealing cash from envelopes intended for charity.

Bernard Mumbaya-Kimbing, 46, admitted to stealing donations intended for animal and cancer charities when working at Manchester Mail Centre.

An investigation was launched when bosses discovered over £2,000 in cash had gone missing at the centre over the past three years.

Clodagh Maguire, prosecuting for the Royal Mail, told Manchester magistrates' court: "Specially-prepared packages were put into circulation during the surveillance and the defendant was seen squeezing and examining most of them."

Mr Mumbaya-Kimbing was only prosecuted for stealing the money he was seen to take, roughly £40, not for the total sum which disappeared.

His lawyer, Philip Lythgoe, explained his defendant had been forced into debt when unable to pay his utility bills and is "deeply ashamed" of his actions.

Royal Mail attracted opprobrium earlier in the week for refusing to deliver parcels to a woman with no pavement outside her home, the Daily Mail reported.

Author:  Paul Burn