A CLERK helped to engineer a £100,000 credit card scam and delivered goods to a North-East gang.

Louise McKinley, 23, was the insider at Barclaycard and obtained information which allowed gang members to buy goods with an account name and number, Newcastle Crown Court heard yesterday.

The scam lasted five months and was based at McKinley's workplace in Liverpool. McKinley, from Kirby, Liverpool, and 11 others admitted obtaining property by deception. She was jailed for six months.

John Start, 41, from South Shields, was jailed for 12 months; Daniel Wells, 21, from Jarrow, Tyneside, six months; and John Allcock, 30, of no fixed address, received 12 months in custody. Aaron Brown, 27, and Alan Brown, 40, from Cowgate, Newcastle; James Mallam, 55, from South Shields; Maureen Shanahan, 34, from Jarrow; and Wendy Bowman, 35, from Gateshead, all received 12-month probation orders. Geoffrey Casey, 41, of Jarrow, received a 200-hour community service order.