FORMER Manea postmistress and former College of West Anglia lecturer Cecilia Mary Larham has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Larham, who runs the Manea School of Gardening, was the village’s postmistress between 1985-2005. She pleaded guilty to one count of fraud at Huntingdown Crown Court yesterday.

The charge relates to the use of a fraudulent document or signature when cashing in a trust fund. Larham, of School Lane, Manea, will be sentenced next month.

The former COWA lecturer, who has lived in Manea for 26 years, opened the Manea School of Gardening in September last year. She had formerly run Thyme House Plant Nursery.

The business, based at a two-acre site complete with teaching classrooms, offers a range of gardening and horticulture courses for amateurs.