A FORMER Blackburn restaurateur wept as a court was told that an ex-boyfriend "had used her like a piggy bank".

Zulieka Talaty was persuaded to invest in The Wattan Indian Restaurant, Old Bank Lane, Blackburn, but then had to have herself declared bankrupt when it all went wrong magistrates were told.

Talaty, a 44-year-old mother-of-two, of Stoke Newington, London, pleaded guilty to failing to disclose two bank accounts to the Official Receiver and failing to deliver a cheque for more than £4,000 to the Official Receiver.

She was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £371 costs by Blackpool magistrates.

Michael Woosnam, prosecuting for The Department of Trade and Industry, said Talaty instituted bankruptcy proceedings herself and in April 2000 was made bankrupt.

But she failed to declare to the Official Receiver a Royal Bank of Scotland account at the Blackburn branch which contained £260 and a Co-op Bank account.

The prosecutor added that before being made bankrupt Talaty had taken out insurance on the Blackburn restaurant and subsequently received a £4,126 payout after the premises were burgled. The cheque should have gone to the Official Receiver.

Andrew Creswell, defending, said: "As far as my client is concerned she has been had -- well and truly misled."