Sarah Harrison (44), of Ulverston Close, Paston, Peterborough, appeared a success as she oversaw the affairs of Millfield Medical Centre in St Martin's Street, winning regional practice manager of the year in 2006 and coming runner-up in the national competition.

But unknown to Dr Michael Kennedy, she was milking money from the business by falsifying invoices and pocketing the cash paid out to cover them, even as she enjoyed the plaudits.

She also claimed for hours she had not worked and siphoned off the proceeds from drivers' medicals conducted at the surgery for the DVLA.

At Peterborough Crown Court yesterday, she was jailed for two years for two counts of dishonestly retaining credit relating to the invoices and her extra hours, having admitted the crimes earlier.

She also asked for theft of an undetermined sum from the medicals to be taken into consideration.

Speaking afterwards, Dr Kennedy said the true value of his losses at Harrison's hands was at least £75,000, including £30,000 lost through the medicals and tax paid on the extra wages she claimed.

He said her crimes had taken the practice to the brink of ruin, forcing him to cash in an endowment policy for £40,000 to reduce its bank debt to £90,000.

But he said his over-riding feelings were of sorrow and hurt that "a friend" to whom he had lent £9,000 to help her with divorce costs had let him down so badly.

Dr Kennedy said: "It's been a most stressful time, but I feel very sorry for her. I worked with her for 15 years, so I was terribly sad when all this happened.

"I don't like to see anyone imprisoned. I don't think it's going to achieve very much – it won't help me and I don't think it's going to help her particularly – but I understand it's a public concern and the punishment is stipulated by the law.

"The chance of her working again in this field are pretty small, and that, in lots of ways, is a tragedy."

Prosecuting, Tim Brown told the court that Harrison had responsibility for overseeing the practice's finances.

But that trust was betrayed between June 2004 and January 2007, when Harrison abused her £35,000-a-year position to suck money from the surgery.

Mr Brown said she pocketed £20,209 from practice funds after falsifying 18 invoices, and a further £7,553 by claiming for 34 hours a week, when she in fact only worked 30.

Her fraud came to light in early 2007 after the surgery ran into financial difficulties.

Defending, Samantha Leigh said Harrison, a mother-of-two, had been left in a financial mess by her divorce. Her mother is also dependent on her, and her brother suffers from a terminal illness, she said.

Miss Leigh added: "This wasn't about a lavish lifestyle. She was trying to carry on and meet the needs she felt she had to in terms of her mother and brother.