A SOCIAL worker secretly filmed himself having sex at work then threatened to blackmail his lover by sending the tape to her boss.

The ten-minute video showed the couple making love twice - before cooling their passions by breaking off to have a curry cooked on the office microwave.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Desmond Ross hid the video camera in an adjoining toilet.

The passionate affair took place in a social services building run by Durham County Council. But the plan almost came unstuck when the toilet door kept swinging shut - ruining his carefully framed shot.

The court heard how 6ft 3in Ross had to keep kicking the toilet door open as he had sex on the floor with the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Later, when she tried to end their affair he threatened to send the tape to her boss.

The woman, who had worked for social services for many years, cherished her job, said prosecutor David Lamb.

He added: "The demand was for her to carry on the relationship with him or he would inform her boss what she had done."

She waited at court for five hours to give evidence against Ross, but he changed his plea to guilty. Police delivered the video to court but it was not shown.

Ross, who resigned after he was arrested for blackmail, was warned by the judge that he faces jail.

Jim Withyman, defending, told Teesside Crown Court: "He realises the seriousness of what he has done."

Judge Les Spittle remanded Ross on bail for reports before sentence on condition that he has no contact with the woman.

Ross, of Grasmere Grove, Crook, County Durham, pleaded guilty to blackmail between February 1 and March 25.