GUESTHOUSE owner Alison Wilcocks couldn’t believe it when she realised the woman staying in room seven was wanted by police.

Mrs Wilcocks, of the Arcadia in Waterloo Place, Weymouth, did a double-take when she watched the television news.

The woman who had booked in the previous night and paid for a room with ‘crisp’ £50 notes was Amanda Williams, a woman wanted for questioning over the alleged disappearance of £30,000 belonging to a dance troupe.

Mrs Williams, 51, of Swindon, Wiltshire, had organised a 10-day visit to a dance competition in America for 14 teenagers.

But when the girls arrived at Heathrow airport for their dream trip no flights or accommodation had been booked.

Mrs Wilcocks, who runs the guesthouse with husband Roy, said her suspicions were raised when Mrs Williams turned up late at night requesting a room.

She said: “Having been in the business for nine years you get to know all sorts of people and can usually figure out quickly if something isn’t right.

“This woman asked for a room for four nights which is strange. If it had been for one night I wouldn’t have thought twice but it’s unusual for someone to turn up out of the blue and book a reasonably long stay.

“I didn’t ask any questions. She seemed nice and friendly.”

“She paid in cash – £113 for four nights bed and breakfast including a reduction because she decided not to have breakfast the first morning – and they were crisp notes I remember.

“She signed her name Mandy Williams.”

It was not until the morning when Mrs Wilcocks was watching GMTV that she suddenly made a connection.

Mrs Wilcocks, 37, said: “I said to my husband, ‘I think that woman is staying here.’ “It was a strange moment. I felt exhilarated and nervous.”

Police, who had been making their own inquiries into Mrs Williams’ whereabouts, turned up to take her away for questioning.

Mr Wilcocks, 43, said: “When the policeman knocked on her door she opened it and said: ‘I’ve been expecting you.’ “She then tried to close the door but the policeman put his foot in the door.

“After that she was no trouble at all and went quietly. In fact when she left it was like she was going shopping or something. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned.”

Mrs Wilcocks, who has two children Alicia, six, and two-year-old George, added: “There was no big scene.

“The police took her belongings and turned the room upside down.

“I find the whole thing quite sad really.”

Mrs Wilcocks is a member of the fundraising group Ladies Alive and says if she is allowed to keep Mrs Williams’s money she will give it to a good cause.