A SCHOOL bursar who bought two cars and paid off his debts with money stolen from his employers is close to paying back the cash.

Michael Hall was jailed for two years in December after admitting two charges of theft, four of false accounting and one of fraud totalling £49,228 between 2003 and 2009.

The 61-year-old was paid £60,000 a year with free accommodation at Kingham Hill boarding school near Chipping Norton.

At his sentencing hearing, prosecutor Kevin West said the stolen cash paid for cars and cleared the defendant’s credit card debt.

Hall had been at the school, where his wife was the librarian, since 1999 but was suspended following the allegations in November 2009.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing took place at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard Hall had already paid back £20,000 by the time he was sentenced and handed over another £17,000 last month.

Joanne Sear, defending, said her client, who is still in prison, will have finished paying back his debt next month.

The Crown Prosecution Service agreed for the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to officially lie on the file as it was satisfied Hall, of Glossop, Derbyshire, was likely to settle his debt.