A former online security manager at banking giant Lloyds has admitted a £2.4 million fraud.

Jessica Harper took the money over a four-year period while working as head of fraud and security for digital banking.

At Southwark Crown Court, in London, she admitted a single charge of fraud by abuse of position by submitting false invoices to claim payments of £2,463,750.

The 50-year-old from Croydon, south London, also admitted a single charge of transferring criminal property, the money which she had defrauded from her employers.

Ms Hawley's defence revealed that she was due to exchange contracts on her £700,000 home in a bid to repay some of the stolen cash.

She will be sentenced at a later date.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith has deferred a decision on bail.