An ex-wife who was told to pay her former husband £4,250 after she sold the grave plot they intended to be buried in together without his knowledge is challenging her fraud conviction.

Jillian Keahey, 66, was ordered to pay her ex-husband William thousands of pounds after she forged his signature and sold his share in the grave to Sutton Council.

Mrs Keahey had been found guilty of fraud at Redhill Magistrates Court in May, but will challenge her conviction later this week.

The couple bought the plot at Sutton Cemetery for about £850 ten years ago, but it has since rocketed in value and is now worth over £4,000.

But Mr Keahey, 57, of Fairlands in Sutton only found out that he had been shafted when his former brother-in-law visited the cemetery and told him someone had been buried in his grave.

Mr Keahey said he could not believe that his ex-wife, who lives in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, was appealing the ruling and claimed he had only received £20 from her since May.

He said: "I could not believe it when I heard she was appealing her conviction."

Mrs Keahey is due to appear at Guilford Crown Court on Thursday, where she will appeal her fraud conviction and the £4,000 she owes her former husband.