AN 82-year-old woman had her life savings stolen by a woman who had once worked as her carer and who she trusted as a friend.

Magistrates heard that Roxanne Margaret Culff stole more than £1,800 after being given the victim's bank card and pin number.

And she was warned that she could face a custodial sentence for a serious breach of trust involving a vulnerable, elderly victim.

Culff, 34, of Maudsley Street, Accrington, pleaded guilty to six charges of theft from Christina Riley and asked for nine others to be taken into consideration.

She was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting at Blackburn Magistrates' Court, said Mrs Riley underwent surgery in September, 2005, to have two vertebrae removed from her back.

This left her with a degree of disability and when she returned home in April she needed the assistance of carers.

Culff was one of the carers who worked with Mrs Riley for about six weeks before leaving the care organisation to start a job at the new Royal Blackburn Hospital.

"She began to visit on a social basis and Mrs Riley considered her as a friend," said Miss Allan. "She thought she had a helpful, caring personality."

Mrs Riley began to ask Culff to get her money from the cash machine and trusted her with her card and pin number.

On several occasions the card was not returned immediately and then after Culff had supposedly gone to purchase a telephone from Argos it was not returned at all.

The card was eventually stopped and Mrs Riley asked for a statement which showed numerous cash withdrawals totalling over £1,800.

"These were the savings of an 82-year-old lady," said Miss Allan. "She says she is annoyed with herself because she thought she was a good judge of character."

Clare Knight, defending, said Culff was extremely upset and apologetic.

"She appreciates how upset the aggrieved will be.

"You are dealing with a lady of previous good character who tells me she hasn't slept since she was arrested last week.

"It wasn't the most sophisticated offence and she knew it would come back to her eventually because there was nobody else it could have been," she added.