A LANCASHIRE accountant who was jailed for stealing £30,000 from a hotel has been told to pay it back.

Foulridge man Norman Hetherington, 64, was jailed last September for 20 months after admitting 18 charges of theft, with nine offences taken into consideration, from The Pines Hotel, Clayton-le-Woods, near Chorley.

Hetherington, of Skipton Road, had been working as the hotel’s ‘company secretary’ between 2005 and 2007 but was siphoning off money from the accounts, pushing the hotel towards the brink of closure.

When he was jailed, owner Betty Duffin branded Hetherington a ‘wicked man’’ A confiscation order hearing at Preston Crown Court decided Hetherington must pay back £219,705 which was money he had that couldn’t be accounted for.

He must also pay Mrs Duffin £29,418 compensation.

He faces a further 33 months in prison if he fails to pay back the full amount before January 23, 2011.