A former city high-flier stole from a Broadway museum after he was sacked, a court heard.

Neil Thorneywork, took an exhibit signed by Winston Churchill from Broadway Tower, near Evesham, Worcester Crown Court was told.

He was the curator of the museum.

The 61 year-old also claimed he was the owner of a bomb power indicator in the nuclear bunker part of the military museum at Broadway Tower, near Evesham, and persuaded the owners to buy it back from him for £1,250.

Alex Warren, prosecuting, said Thorneywork's dismissal in January last year had set off an acrimonious dispute with the managing director Annette Gorton.

Thorneywork, a former lorry driver, stockbroker and supermarket manager, had been in the job since 2011.

One of his tasks had been to take copies of a certificate of recommendation signed by Winston Churchill and presented to Albert Lowe of the Royal Observer Corps for his bravery in an air crash in the county in 1943.

It was one of only three given out to Corps members and Mr Lowe's family donated it to the museum in 2011.

It has since disappeared and Thorneywork does not know where it is, the court was told.

Mr Warren said part of the museum featured a nuclear bunker and one of the exhibits was a bomb power indicator, a Cold War device for measuring the force of a nuclear explosion.

Thorneywork produced a receipt to persuade Miss Gorton it belonged to him and the museum bought it for £1,250 to keep it on show after he was sacked.

But the receipt was bogus as the item had already been donated free from another museum before he claimed to have bought it.

Thorneywork, of Medway Road, Evesham, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and one of fraud.

Alexander West, defending, said Thorneywork had been solely responsible for the nuclear bunker.

"He built it into a site that would attract people from far and wide because of the artefacts," Mr West said.

Thorneywork had sourced many of the items himself and he believed he owned the bomb power indicator, Mr West said.

He now had a part-time job which did not give him enough money to pay his mortgage and his house was being sold.

He was also still involved in a civil court case with his former employers.

Judge Richard Rundell said Thorneywork had lost his good character and would not get it back.

"I can well understand how you felt possessive of the items in the museum, many of which you had sourced and some you had donated, but they were not yours," he told Thorneywork. "You have acted dishonestly."

He said the loss of the Churchill certificate appeared to be the most serious offence because although it was valued at £500, its sentimental value to the family was much higher. He gave Thorneywork a 12 month sentence suspended for two years on each count to run concurrently.

He was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work within twelve months.

He was ordered to pay £1750 compensation to Broadway Tower Country Park Ltd.