A PUB manager who disappeared with almost £30,000 in takings has been jailed for six months.

Jonathon Tyerman, 32, was "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in a bid to pay off his debts while running the Shepherd's Arms, Church Street, Colne, Burnley Crown Court was told.

He "took the money and ran,"last May, leaving a note for his boss saying simply: "Sorry."

The court was told Tyerman was head-hunted to run the previously ailing premises and turned it into a flagship pub.

But he fled to the Republic of Ireland in a "rather romantic notion," before returning and handing himself in at the end of last year. He would have come back earlier had he not broken his leg and been in plaster, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Sentencing Tyerman, who had kept correct accounting records but did not bank the money, Judge Raymond Bennett told him it was his records which had brought him to book.

He added he was not ordering compensation as the defendant was going to jail, but victims brewers Timothy Taylor could take steps to recover the cash through the civil courts if they wished.

Tyerman admitted four counts of theft totalling £26,768 over about 15 days, last May and had been committed for sentence by Pennine Magistrates.

Tim Storrie, prosecuting, said managers from the brewery went to the Shepherd's Arms and found the defendant had disappeared.

He told staff he had gone on an errand but when his apartment was searched, they found a note addressed to his boss Andrew Deakin, which read: "Sorry, Andrew."

A search began for Tyerman but he had gone to Galway in Southern Ireland.

Mr Storrie added the defendant told officers he had had only about £2,000 left after he had paid off his debts.

Ian Metcalfe, defending, said Tyerman started at the refurbished Shepherd's Arms in 1998. It had previously been an increasingly shabby and run down pub but the brewery bought it and put £270,000 into it.

The defendant was head hunted to manage the "prestigious," new pub for Taylors and his recruitment and their investment proved a success, turning it from an embarrassment into a flagship pub in Colne, he said.

Mr Metcalfe said the pub regularly took £9,000 a week and during the annual Colne Blues Festival £30,000 would go through the tills. During last year's festival, the defendant left a bag containing £11,000 behind the bar and it was stolen.

Mr Metcalfe said Tyerman had been given a written warning for late banking and didn't tell his bosses of the theft. He took responsibility and sought to borrow money.

The downhill slide then started when Tyerman couldn't pay the instalments from his salary and began to divert money from the pub.