A former leisure centre cleaner pleaded guilty to stealing close to £1,000 worth of items from its gym, St Albans Magistrates Court heard last Friday.

Timothy Eamer, of Mitchell Close, St Albans, was given a 12 week curfew and ordered to pay £500 compensation after stealing a £300 Reebok dumbbell set, a £400 Jordan kettleball set and a £200 detagging magnet from the gym at Westminster Lodge in Holywell Hill on March 28.

Assistant manager James Tovey confirmed Eamer had been in his probationary period as a night cleaner at the time of the crime.

He said: “We noticed equipment belonging to the leisure centre was going missing and after investigation were very disappointed to discover that Mr Eamer was responsible.

“We reported this to the police and they have resolved the matter. Mr Eamer is no longer working with the company.”