THE manager of a Hampshire street market stole more than £7,000 in stallholders’ rent over a two-year period.

Gary Simmonds was jailed for 12 weeks for taking the payments from stallholders at the market in Winchester.

Simmonds, of The Ridings, Southampton, was arrested following an internal investigation into the thefts at the Middle Brook Street market.

The 49-year-old was sacked after a disciplinary hearing and was sentenced at the city’s crown court, where he pleaded guilty to four charges of false accounting and one overall charge of theft.

The court heard that he had stolen £7,347.91.

A further hearing is to be held at Winchester Crown Court on December 20, when prosecutors will seek to recover the money.

Details of the fraud emerged during a meeting of Winchester City Council, which says that it has now tightened procedures to stop it happening again.

Council chief executive Simon Eden said the incident showed that the council had effective internal auditing.

He added that at a time when people were at risk of redundancy, the council was also ensuring that cash was being handled properly.