A WOMAN stole a bottle of perfume to fund her trip home after she came looking for a ‘George Clooney lookalike’ she had met on an online dating site.

Blackburn magistrates heard Tracie Barnes fled from the pub where they met, leaving behind her train ticket and her money.

Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said Barnes and the man had been communicating through the ‘Bnaughty’ website.

“I’m not sure of the naughtiness that was contemplated but the only reason for her coming to Blackburn was to meet this man,” said Mr Church-Taylor.

“He had posted a photograph on the website but when she met him face-to-face he wasn’t the George Clooney lookalike she was expecting.

"She made an excuse to go to the toilet and left without saying goodbye.”

She was then left with a dilemma: go back to the pub to collect her ticket or raise funds some other way.

She was arrested after stealing a bottle of perfume which she intended to sell to raise the fare home.

Barnes, 30, of Bromwich Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to theft from Boots in Blackburn and obstructing a police officer by giving a false name and address.

She was fined £140 and ordered to pay £100 costs.