Stephen Harris, 66, formerly operations manager at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, is said to have taken items from the collections of Norfolk Museums Service over the course of almost 20 years.

Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told the scale of his alleged thefts had been unearthed as the result of an on-going investigation over a number of years.

Norfolk Museums Service is a department of the county council and runs 10 attractions, including Gressenhall, Norwich Castle and Time and Tide, in Great Yarmouth.

He is accused of passing off objects as his own to sell them at auctions, with a number of items said to have raised £15,000 when they went under the hammer........

© Norwich Evening News