A MOTHER'S crooked plan for a cheap family holiday backfired when the police knocked on her door, a court was told yesterday.

Margaret Lawrence, 31, paid £1,000 to a contact for a fortnight in Gran Canaria, and it was booked by phone with First Choice Holidays.

The caller was said to be M Lawrence, said Christopher Williams, prosecuting. But the card used belonged to a design engineer who had not authorised its use for £2,861.

During the holiday, First Choice received a request for £400 in pesetas to be given to an M Lawrence, using a card belonging to another man without his knowledge.

Both men contacted the police when they discovered the scam, and Mrs Lawrence was arrested four days after her return, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Mr Williams said: "She was introduced to a woman who she would not name, who booked her a holiday for £1,000. She knew that somebody's credit card was to be used by deception."

Rod Hunt, defending, said that she had paid back most of the money.

The judge told her: "It is clear that you were not the prime mover in this matter and it is just possible to deal with you in an unusual and lenient way."

Lawrence, of St Johns Road, Shildon, County Durham, was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 prosecution costs after she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud between July 1 and August 16 last year.