A woman has denied stealing more than £32,000 from a wealthy pensioner in a care home.

Elizabeth Barfoot told a court that frail Marjorie Guy was disgusted that she would have to pay death duty after she died.

Barfoot said Mrs Guy, who died last year aged 101, began asking her to cash cheques for £900.

She said: "It started after she was visited by a solicitor when she wanted to change her will.

"She was disgusted that she would have to pay tax after she died.

"I was not happy about getting out such large amounts but she insisted. She paid for a taxi to take me to the bank and back again because she was worried that someone would follow me and hit me over the head.

"I took the money straight back to her and counted it out on the table in front of her.

"I asked her if she wanted a member of staff there to witness it but she didn't."

Barfoot, 44, said she worked as a cleaner for Mrs Guy at her flat in Bexhill.

She said she continued to visit her and do shopping and cash cheques for her after she moved into the Richmond Methodist residential home in 2002.

Barfoot, of Windmill Drive, Bexhill, told Hove Crown Court that she would write out cheques for the amounts specified by Mrs Guy.

She said the pensioner would always use a magnifying glass to verify the amount before signing the cheques.

Barfoot denies stealing £32,500 and attempting to steal £900 between 2002 and 2003.

Earlier the court heard that Barfoot and another former cleaner, Daphne Barden, were authorised to cash cheques signed by Mrs Guy.

In a police video interview made after the thefts were discovered Mrs Guy said she paid Barfoot £5 a time to go shopping for her.

Mrs Guy said Barfoot told her she would rather have a cheque than be paid in cash.

Guy Strudwick told the court his aunt was profoundly deaf but mentally alert until just before she died.

He said she had kept her flat at Bexhill even though she lived in a residential home and he collected her post for her.

Mr Strudwick said he took any bank statements which arrived there for her to see but he never looked at them until one dropped on the floor of his car.

He said: "I noticed that there were large amounts made out to cash. That prompted me to contact my aunt's bank and then go to see her.

"She knew nothing about the cash at all and she was surprised."

Mr Strudwick said he informed the police in December 2003, and authorisation for Barfoot and Dorothy Barden to cash Mrs Guy's cheques was withdrawn.

Barfoot was arrested after she tried to cash a cheque for £900 on December 11, 2003.

The trial continues.