A BANKER who stole £218,000 from customers to "fund her luxury lifestyle" has been jailed for three years.

Julie Fraser, 52, was a trusted customer relationship manager, but it later emerged she had repeatedly dipped into customer's accounts and transferred money to herself over a five and a half year period.

Fraser, of Cupar, Fife, had previously admitted embezzling £218,349.93 between May 1, 2007, and October 31, 2012, while working at Halifax Bank Of Scotland in Carberry Road, Kirkcaldy.

Her fraud was uncovered when a monitoring system highlighted an "internal" transfer of £5000 from a customer account to another.

Fraser later told fraud investigators she needed the money because of her divorce and used the cash to "put her daughter through university, buy luxury goods and fund a good lifestyle".

A further probe uncovered a total of 26 transactions taking cash from customers and giving it to herself.

The money has been repaid from her pension pot.