A woman has been ordered to pay hundreds of pounds after she stole several items of clothing from a Primark store.

Cristiana-nicoleta Rusen, 37, was found to have snatched £61 worth of stock from the shop at Lakeside back in March 2016.

Rusen, of Broadway, Grays, was charged with theft but did not attend her hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates Court.

The theft was proven in her absence.

Magistrates ordered her to pay a £175 fine, a £30 surcharge to Primark and £200 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

According to the CPS website, acts of theft can bring with them a maximum penalty of seven years in prison at a crown court, or an unlimited fine/ up to six months in prison if the hearing is carried out at a magistrates court.