TWO men have been jailed for a total of nine years after conning 48 victims, including an elderly resident in Warrington, out of £100,000.

The trio from Newark, Nottinghamshire, operated across the country and were arrested in Ripon by North Yorkshire Police after a resident became suspicious about the men′s claims and quality of work.

William King, aged 35, and Gavin James Findley, aged 30, pleaded guilty to fraud charges at York Crown Court on Monday.

A third man was given a suspended sentence.

King and Findley defrauded a Warrington man of £6,500 as part of a criminal spree spanning nine English counties.

The gang targeted elderly people living in park mobile home sites in the UK, claiming that work needed doing to their property under the name ‘Quality Park Homes and Modern Park Homes’.

Their victim in Warrington was told the floor of his home was so rotten that his bath was in danger of falling through the floor if expensive repairs were not undertaken urgently.

Warrington trading standards officers heard that the men even planted a piece of rotten wood under their victim’s home, which the fraudsters then showed to their victim as 'evidence'.

Peter Astley, Warrington Borough Council’s assistant director of public protection, said: “On behalf of the council I’d like to commend Warrington’s trading standards officers for their vigilance and dedication.

"They and their colleagues in other boroughs around the country played a valuable role in helping the police bring these fraudsters to justice.

“Our advice to anyone who is approached by cold-callers is simply not to buy anything from them, not to hand over any money or commission them to do any work, however charming they may appear."