A DIY store boss who plundered tens of thousands of pounds from work has been ordered to hand back more than £70,000.

Eamonn Burns will have to sell a second home he bought on the sunshine isle of Cyprus with the proceeds of his stealing from the tills at Wickes.

Judge Philip Wassall, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, ruled the 32-year-old benefitted from crime to the tune of £70,540, the same amount as his available assets.

Burns was given three months to hand over the cash, which will go to his former employers as compensation, or face a two year prison sentence.

Richard Williams, defending, said his client was not in court for the hearing as he was now living in South Wales and wanted to put the matter behind him.

The court heard that because his assets are all tied up in the holiday home he may need extra time to free the money.

Burns was jailed for 18 months last October after he was caught operating a false refund scam at Wickes.

During 2015 there were periods when he was found to be taking money on a daily basis.

And the dad, who had one child with a second child on the way when he was jailed, used the cash to buy a second home with his wife in Cyprus.

Meanwhile his lower paid former colleagues missed out on annual bonuses and were subject to an overtime ban, knocking back their chances of boosting their incomes.

Burns became a manager at the flagship store, which has a £10m turnover, in June 2013, but in December 2015 an investigation found he was on the take.

It was also uncovered that he had falsified invoices in a bid to cover his tracks and also used the details of innocent customers on the paperwork.

And when police went to his house they found a load of tiles which he had got from work and obtained a refund for, meaning they were stolen.

During his year of stealing Burns, formerly of Webbs Wood, Peatmoor, bought the house in Cyprus for £66,620.