TWO Blackburn women got involved in art crime after one of them stole six paintings from the house where she was working as a housekeeper.

Blackburn magistrates heard auction houses and fine art dealers were involved as the women tried to sell the paintings.

But they were eventually 'framed' when the owner saw one of his painting was due to come up for auction and when he checked his collection found it and five others were missing.

Karen Roberts, 54, of Ivy Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to stealing paintings by artists called Key and Stanaway worth £12,400 belonging to Derek Barnes Jnr.

Lynsey Marie Hindle, 39, of Merchants Landing, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to arranging to handle the stolen paintings.

Both women were bailed for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Rachael Parker, prosecuting, said Roberts had been employed by Derek Barnes Snr to work at his house in Pleasington.

Miss Parker said: "His son, who also lived at the house, was an avid collector of fine art with over 200 paintings in his collection."

She said Roberts worked at the family home for just three months and a week before she left she removed six paintings from their storage in the garage.

Miss Parker said: "She stored them at Hindle's address with her knowledge and they were both involved in attempts to sell them."

The prosecutor added the two women researched the paintings on the internet and eventually took them to Holden Wood Antiques Centre in Helmshore, where they told the owner they had been given to them by Roberts' brother.

"She provided her passport as proof of identity and left the paintings so their authenticity could be checked," said Miss Parker.

No offer was made for the paintings and they were later taken to an auction house for fine art.

The owner decided not to purchase the paintings and later informed Lancashire Police and the Metropolitan Police Fine Art department.

Two months after the paintings had been stolen Hindle opened an eBay account and offered one of the paintings, The Viaduct by Geoffrey Key, for sale at the buy-it-now price of £500.

A potential buyer called Turner visited her home and she told him the paintings had been left to her by her grandmother.

Mr Turner bought the painting and eventually purchased the other five as well, handing over a total of £1,900.

He decided to sell one of them on and a painting called The Clown by Geoffrey Key was placed with an auction house.

Miss Parker said: "Derek Barnes Jnr was browsing a site which showed paintings due to come up for sale when he saw The Clown which he recognised as one of his own.

"When he checked his collection he found that and the other five were missing.

"All the paintings were recovered but Mr Turner is £1,900 out of pocket."

Roberts told police she had no idea what the paintings were worth when she put them in her car.

She said she used her share of the cash to pay off her credit card.

Hindle admitted to police she knew the paintings were stolen when she got involved in trying to sell them.

Gareth Price, defending, said it was difficult to understand why two ladies with no previous convictions had committed the offences.

He said: "Genuine passports were presented as proof of identity when they tried to sell the paintings and there was clearly a low level of sophistication.

"Both the defendants have written letters of apology and they have brought with them today £2,000 to pay back Mr Turner."