A 36-YEAR-OLD man fed up of being used as a "dogsbody" by his boss used his company petrol card to buy nearly £2,000 worth of fuel which he then sold on or gave to friends.

David Alfred Collinge later told police he had committed the offence because he wanted to get sacked.

Basharat Ditta, defending, told Blackburn magistrates the bizarre behaviour had meant that Collinge had lost the job he had held for 16 years and was now reduced to living off £64 a fortnight hardship allowance when he had previously earned over £200 a week.

Collinge, of Walton Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to theft of petrol worth £1,926 from Pipeline Centre Industrial Plastics. He was remanded on bail until February 6 for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.

Teresa Feeley, prosecuting, said Collinge told police he had done it to get sacked because his boss kept making him work weekends.

Mr Ditta said the two-month course of conduct had the specific aim of getting Collinge the sack. "He had already spoken to his employers about redundancy and when they said no he set about getting the sack," said Mr Ditta.