News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A woman amputated her own hand with a circular saw to allegedly claim £400,000 on insurance.

The Slovenian 21-year-old and a relative have been detained for attempted fraud, police said on Monday.

Both the woman and her relative, 29, face up to eight years in prison for those charges.

A police spokesman Valter Zrinski told a news conference: "With one of her accomplices, she intentionally amputated her hand at the wrist with a circular saw, hoping to stage it as an accident."

The woman is believed to have staged the incident, together with three relatives.

This allegedly happened earlier this year shortly after the group signed life and injury insurance contracts with five different insurance companies.

(Image: Getty Images)

At first four were arrested, but two were released.

The woman was hoping to get around 380,000 euros of compensation, say police.

They add that she also hoped for a life-long monthly payout of some 3,000 euros.

The group intentionally left the hand behind rather than bringing it with them to the hospital.

It was hoped that they would receive three times higher compensation for permanent disability, police said.

However authorities managed to pick up the hand in time, and doctors in a hospital in the capital Ljubljana managed to sew it back on, Zrinski said.

The average monthly net income is around 1,000 euros in Slovenia.