A DISGRACED former sub postmaster is being made to pay back the proceeds of his "greed" - starting with the keys to his £25,000 BMW.

Richard Lofthouse is currently at Kirkham prison, serving a 27-month sentence, after pocketing almost £110,000 when he was in charge of Brunshaw Road Post Office, Burnley.

Burnley Crown Court was told the Department of Social Security was seeking a confiscation order and that negotiations were taking place between Lofthouse's solicitors and the department over the father-of-two's assets.

Lofthouse, a former Round Tabler and president of Todmorden Cricket Club, has already released his right of ownership to two cars, including a £25,000 BMW with a cherished number plate, and signed an authority for the department to sell them.

The court had earlier been told Lofthouse had treated himself to the prestige car, fulfilling a "boyhood dream".

Lofthouse, formerly of Rhyddings Avenue, Worsthorne, told the police how he started on the benefit book fraud in late 1997 because of money troubles, but later became "greedy".

The defendant had taken out mortgages on the post office and also his home and had been helped out with a £30,000 loan from his parents, saved as their security for later in life. That money was now at risk. Both the post office and the houses were for sale.

The court was told the total amount Lofthouse benefited from due to his criminal conduct was £109,861.

His counsel, Roger Baldwin, said it was not suggested Lofthouse had "salted away any assets or anything of that kind".

The hearing was adjourned until October 1 for negotiations to take place.

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