A thief who stole money from a bus driver's cash bag was told by a judge: "You are a thoroughly dishonest woman."

Claudie Thompson, 32, pounced when the black wallet, containing £200, was dropped on Stagecoach's 300 service at Workington.

As passenger Thompson got off the bus, she handed the wallet back to driver Gillian Simpson, who opened it and saw the takings were gone.

Thompson paused to help search for the missing money and even left her name and number at the scene.

When she was later charged with theft, she denied the allegation.

But after going on trial at Carlisle Crown Court, Thompson was yesterday found guilty, unanimously, by a jury.

During the trial, bus driver Mrs Simpson gave evidence about an incident which occurred at around lunchtime on 22nd September last year.

Having arrived at Workington bus station she briefly left her cab to install a ramp for a disabled passenger.

"I set off and never noticed anything," she told jurors.

Soon after, she was approached by a woman - Thompson - who was preparing to get off. "She said 'I have found this'. It was my wallet. It was completely empty," said the driver.

Asked for her reaction, she added: "It was 'oh my god, that's all my notes and takings in there'."

Mrs Simpson confirmed she had seen money in the bag earlier in the journey.

CCTV footage showing Thompson in possession of the wallet on the bus was played in court. She admitted looking inside to check for identification but didn't find any. Nor, she claimed, was there any money inside.

"Did you steal the money from that wallet?" Thompson was asked by her defence lawyer, David Thompson.

"I didn't, no," she replied.

Following her conviction, Thompson, of Shore Road, Salterbeck, was sentenced by Judge Peter Hughes QC.

The married mother of two young children was said to have previously had an alcohol dependency. However, her lawyer pointed out this was "now under control".

Judge Hughes heard Thompson was subject to a suspended prison sentence at the time of the theft. This was imposed for one of several fraud offences which appeared on her criminal record.

After hearing that prison would have a "great impact" on Thompson's family, Judge Hughes suspended a three-month jail sentence for two years. She was ordered to complete 120 hours' unpaid work.

"You are a thoroughly dishonest woman," the judge told her. "This was a purely opportunistic theft.

"You saw there was a substantial sum of money in that wallet, and you couldn't resist the temptation and took it."