A cashier who stole more than £108,590 from the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh when she paid bogus wages for 10 fake employees into her own bank accounts has been jailed for two years.

Janet Davis, 48, registered the made-up employees and paid their scam wages into two of her own bank accounts over four and a half years between April, 2000 and October, 2004.

In the complex scheme, she falsified paperwork, forged signatures and even invented time sheets.

Sheriff Andrew Lothian told her: "This is a very large sum of money taken by you in an elaborate, careful and deceitful scheme. There is no question you should should go to prison. It would have been for three years but for your co-operation."

A financial auditor became suspicious when she noticed that 10 different so-called Hilton Group employees had wages paid into only two different accounts.

She realised that all the signatures were in the same handwriting and that some of the payment forms were incomplete.

"This was highly irregular," Fiscal Depute Lucy Proctor told Edinburgh Sheriff Court at an earlier hearing. "Mrs Davis was asked for an explanation, but could not provide one."

Davis, of Kirkfield View, Livingston, West Lothian, who worked for the hotel for 17 years, telephoned managers to say she would not go back to work and admitted the scheme.

"She outlinted exactly how she had carried out the fraud and said it had gone on for between four and five years," Ms Proctor said. "She could not say how much she had obtained and was formally dismissed.

"She freely admitted to police that she has falsified paperwork, made up fictitious employees and time sheets. She showed great remorse throughout the dealings with the officers."

Davis, who has repaid £1400 and saved up another £2000, told constables that she had mounted up family debts when her husband was made redundant and the cash had not been spent on valuable items.

Ms Proctor said that after more than £24,000 of national insurance and other tax was deducted, the cashier had pocketed more than £80,000.

Davis, who admits that her husband knew nothing of the scheme, pled guilty to embezzling £83,703 from the Caledonian.

Defence agent Glenn Fraser said that Davis had become stressed and suffered from compulsion when she fell into debt.

"The reason for this offence taking place was extreme debt. The debt mounted and mounted when her family moved home and took on a larger mortgage. Unfortunately at the start of this offence she stopped coping.

"She suffered anxiety, stress and agitation throughout this period which led to compulsive behaviour. She was not thinking clearly and her ability to make proper decisions was affected by her stress.

"She is repaying as much as she can as quickly as she can and has co-operated fully with the investigation. This can be distinguished from other cases in that it did not support a luxurious life style. It was simply to pay off debts. No luxurious items were bought."

The 251-room, five star hotel, which stands at the foot of Edinburgh Castle, was built in 1903 and has been a favourite with a host of famous names including Sean Connery and Elton John.

A spokesperson from Hilton Hotels Group said: "It is a very regretable incident. At the time we worked closely with the police and the hotel in question and helped with the investigation. It is now a matter of legal proceedings. Since the incident the hotel reviewed its internal pay roll process to restrict such incidents in the future."