Parents whose children were cared for by a childminder who has admitted neglect charges have described her as a "master manipulator".

Amanda Mathewson had been looking after many more children than she was allowed to - and at one stage left 27 youngsters alone and unsupervised at her home in Dunfermline.

Families told BBC Scotland that the 55-year-old had been "loved and trusted" in the community before her crimes came to light.

And they said it had been "incredibly traumatic" to learn that their children had not been getting cared for properly.

Mathewson pleaded guilty at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Tuesday to wilfully neglecting, abandoning and exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to their health. She will be sentenced next month.

Mathewson has been a self-employed childminder for 30 years, providing services at her home for children under the age of 16.

One parent said she was regarded as "one of the best in the area".

"She was loved and trusted throughout the community," they told the BBC.

"Building an apparently unshakeable reputation as friendly, caring and trustworthy with the adults she encountered outside her home was part of how she concealed what was happening."

Another parent said they considered Mathewson to be "a good friend".

"Finding out what happened was incredibly traumatic both for us and the other families," they told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings programme.

"We have had to rewrite eight years of history and have lost happy memories because the belief we had, that our children were being cared for, was not true.

"This woman was a master manipulator and she has got away with these things for years."

Mathewson was arrested by police following allegations of cruelty towards children.

At the time of her arrest she had 15 children aged under 12 in her care, as well as 10 children under primary school age and two children under the age of one.

The investigation found discrepancies in the number of children in Mathewson's care and the number of children she was seen with on multiple occasions.

The court heard parents raised concerns their children had not eaten while in the childminder's care due to their clothes staying in "pristine condition", and that it was a general theme that their children would return home thirsty.

Some children also reported their children came home in dirty nappies or with dry faeces in their underwear.

Court documents said Mathewson always had loud music playing and did not let parents enter her home at drop-off time in an attempt to "conceal how oversubscribed she was".

"This was sustained, deliberate deception that concealed neglect from families and professionals alike," one parent told the BBC.

"If she could build and manipulate the trust of adults across an entire community so effectively, think about how little power babies and young children had behind those closed doors."

A Care Inspectorate report published in August 2023 said Mathewson was registered to provide care for a maximum of eight children at any one time.

It included conditions that a maximum of six children could be under the age of 12, no more than three could be under school age, and no more than one could be under 12-months-old.

An unannounced inspection took place about a year before her arrest. It rated areas including care, learning and the setting as "very good" - the second-highest level in the quality scale.

The report said "children were cared for in a comfortable, welcoming and homely environment" and "were cared for with warmth, kindness and a nurturing approach".

But after suspicions were raised, parents worked together to provide evidence to the police.

One parent said: "I cannot tell you what the first few months were like after all of this came to light.

"Every single parent involved has gone over in their head every conversation and any comment their child ever made - anything at the time seemed innocent enough but in hindsight could have been a red flag."

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said it was a "distressing case" and they had implemented changes as a result.