THE former manager of a landmark Lake District hotel has been warned he could go to prison after admitting a £6,500 series of frauds.

Nigel Parkin, 37, pleaded guilty to 35 criminal offences when he appeared at Carlisle Crown Court on Monday.

These included 33 charges of fraud, one of theft and one of transferring £6,612 of criminal property.

His not guilty pleas to nine further charges of fraud were accepted by the prosecution.

The charges of fraud that he admitted – which stated that he abused his position as a hotel owner – covered amounts ranging from £11.90 to £1,020.

The theft in question was of £91.36.

All the offences were committed between February 2008 and March 2009, while Parkin was running The Mortal Man in Troutbeck.

Parkin, of Rose Cottage Lane, Windermere, was remanded on bail for probation reports and will be sentenced on January 15.

Judge Paul Batty QC told him: “Custody is a real possibility.”

A hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act, at which Parkin could be ordered to pay back any profit he made from his crimes, will be held in May next year.