Andrea Cochrane, 52, worked at A Steel & Son Contractors for more than 30 years.

She was fired after the company discovered a string of bogus payments. After an initial payment of £2,500 had been queried, a review discovered £28,000 had been made to an accountancy firm when it should only have been £10,000.

Investigations revealed Cochrane had labelled a series of high value transactions as ‘Turner Accountancy’ but had used the details of her own account.

Ms Cochrane appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted embezzling £90,000 between January and July 2019.

Sheriff John Speir said he was left with no alternative but to order a prison sentence.