A WOMAN accused of attempting to steal more than £1.8 million from Swindon-based Allied Dunbar will not appear in court again until next year.

The case against Christine Ireland, 35, was due to be heard at Swindon Magistrates' Court yesterday, but has now been postponed until February

Ireland, of Crawley, West Sussex, faces 19 charges of false accounting, after a long-running investigation was carried out by Wiltshire Police fraud squad.

Magistrates' adjourned the case in July when they declined jurisdiction due to the complexity of the issue.

The alleged fraud spans from 1998 to October last year.

It surrounds a £100,000 investment bond Ireland took out with Allied Dunbar.

The case was due to be committed to Swindon Crown Court yesterday, just days after Blunsdon grandmother Beryl Rowlands was jailed for four-and-a-half years for stealing £1.7 million from Allied Dunbar.

Mrs Rowlands, 58, who worked as a £55,000 a year banking head at Allied Dunbar, stole nearly £1.5 million in cash from tills at the Sackville Street headquarters in London.

Ireland's case has been adjourned until February 4.