A MAN convicted of stealing more than £26,000 at his brother's post office has been ordered to do 100 hours community work.

Riyaz Patel was also told by a Preston Crown Court judge that he must pay £11,500 compensation.

The 26-year-old, of Inkerman Street, Blackburn, had earlier been found guilty of theft involving the Cop Lane Post Office at Penwortham, near Preston.

A trial heard that money disappeared over a six-months period in the year 2000.

The shortfall was identified through a random check made by a DSS department in Northern Ireland. The prosecution described it as a consistent and deliberate pattern of abuse.

Patel was said to have owned up during a second interview with investigating officers. But in his evidence he insisted to a jury that he only took the rap in order to save the family-run business.

He said he had made an admission because he thought his father would lose his financial outlay on it.

"Looking back, it was stupid to take responsibility when I have not done the thing," he said.