A WOMAN has been warned she faces jail after stealing almost £400,000 from her employers.

Shirley Player, of Sandford Close in Bournemouth, admitted a single count of theft by employee at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday.

She had stolen the fortune – a total of £390,550 – between February 2007 and March 2014.

The 61-year-old pleaded guilty during her first appearance before a judge, and is set to be sentenced for the offence on October 3 this year.

Player stole the money from Leaders Ltd in Bournemouth, known locally as estate and lettings agents Allan & Bath.

The company declined to comment.

Tom Wright, prosecuting, said there was a “large sum of money involved”.

“It’s thought the money has been spent [according to] research police have conducted into her banking affairs,” he added.

Brian Sharman asked for the sentence to be adjourned for a pre-sentence report, which Judge Peter Johnson agreed to.

The judge granted Player conditional bail ahead of her sentence in three weeks, but said: “Heed these words.

“The fact that I am granting you bail and adjourning your sentence should not be regarded by you as any indication of a likely sentence.”

He added: “An immediate custodial sentence of some length is inevitable.”

Leaders Ltd has branches around the country, expanding rapidly since it was founded in 1983.

Most of the company’s offices are in the South East, but it operates under established guises – including Allan & Bath – elsewhere in the country.