Two people have been sent to prison after pleading guilty to a fraud worth almost £150,000.

Sean Waterton, 26, of Stantonbury and Laura Barrett, 24, of Newport Pagnell were sentenced to 18 monthsand 14 months' imprisonment respectively at Huntingdon Crown Court on March 11.

Both were employed by a management services company which provides a customer service call centre for a national bank.

Between September 21, 2007 and February 18, 2008 75 accounts had been targeted, 37 of which had been victims of fraud attempts. In each case the customers involved confirmed that transfer requests were fraudulent.

The bank recorded the net fraud loss of £75,221.98 as of March 18, 2008, but estimated that between September 21, 2007 and February 18, 2008 there was up to £142,336.83 gross attempted fraud.

Waterton and Barrett were arrested on December 10, 2007 but bailed pending further investigation. They were finally charged on November 9 last year.

Detective Constable Jo Pape, said: "This has been a very complex investigation where we have been working very closely with the bank to ensure a charge was bought to Waterton and Barrett.

"They betrayed the trust of their employers, abusing their position for their own financial gain.

" I hope now by their own admittance of guilt, they realise the consequences of their actions and ask themselves if it was all worth it."