A Chester businessmean took more than £200,000 from company accounts to pay off his credit card bills, a court heard.

Simon Crowther pleaded guilty to misusing a credit card issued by Meyer Group , as well as transferring £215,659 from company accounts to pay off the bills.

Crowther, of Edinburgh Way, Chester, is due to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court later this month.

The 58-year-old has admitted taking tens of thousands of pounds while working as the financial director at the Wirral-based company, which sells cookware across the world.

At a plea and case management hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to counts of obtaining money and property through deception.

Crowther admitted that between November 1, 2001, and December 31, 2011, he ‘dishonestly obtained property by deception, namely items for personal use and cash, by using a credit card issued to him by the Meyer Group beyond the uses for which it was authorised’. He also admitted writing company cheques to the value of £215,659.19 to pay personal credit card bills, over the same period.

He denied a charge that he ‘dishonestly obtained services by deception’ through misusing a company credit card to pay for accommodation and travel expenses.

Crowther, who is thought to have spent two decades working at the company, also pleaded not guilty to accusations that he ‘abused his position’ as financial controller for the Meyer Group.

It had been alleged that, despite being in a role where he was ‘expected to safeguard or not act against the financial interests of another’, he issued personal loans from the company to himself and failed to declare them – meaning repayments were not deducted from his salary.

The Crown Prosecution Service accepted his not guilty pleas and both of these charges have been ordered to lie on file at Crowther’s sentence hearing.

Meyer Group Ltd employs more than 5,000 people and has factories across the world, including in China and Thailand. Its headquarters are based at the Wirral International Business Park on Riverview Road, in Bromborough.

Crowther will be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, February 17.