The woman who faked her qualifications to land a top job has been ordered to repay more than £156,000.

Sarah Sims posed as a doctor of philosophy when she was offered a £50,000-a-year post as operations director to Ferndearle Child Care Services in Folkestone.

Now the 43-year-old, whose false CV included a first-class BA (Hons), a first-class MA (Hons) and a first-class Doctorate of Philosophy, must pay the money within three months or face a year in jail.

Three-times married Sims, who lives in a £1 million home at Lower Weddington Farm Road in Weddington, near Ash, had also lied about her earnings to get a mortgage.

She told the judge that the property had been on offer for up to £1.3 million but she had not been able to sell. More than two years after her conviction for fraud, she faced a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Judge Recorder Catherine Brown ruled she must repay £156,140 from her assets of £481,166. The judge ruled that Ferndeale should receive £25,000 in compensation and another £40,000 should go to another company, called Real Life.

In 2015, a jury heard how Sims claimed she had been awarded the title of “Ladyship” from Warwick University for community “good works”. But they decided she had committed fraud to land her prestigious post and obtain loans to re-mortgage her home.

The prosecutor also revealed Sims had also obtained a mortgage on her property after telling the Halifax she was earning between £80,000 to £150,000 when in fact she was jobless.