A man who stole thousands of pounds of fuel has been banned from every petrol station in England and Wales.

Paul Fagg, from Maidstone, ran up bills of £3,690 in a scam where he pretended he’d forgotten his wallet after filling up.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how the 60-year-old, who walks with a stick, fooled service station staff with promises he would settle the bill in a week leaving a fake address – but never returned.

In a four-month period, unemployed Fagg ripped off fuel across the county on 41 occasions in a suspected fuel-to-order plot.

Prosecutor Harry Hewitt said: “He had gone into the stations in a Range Rover, a Daimler and at the other end of the spectrum, a Renault Scenic. They were not his vehicles and he is believed to have been used by others.”

After pleading guilty to the fraud, which happened between May and August last year, he escaped with a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

Judge Adele Williams made the stringent order to stop Fagg, who says he doesn’t own a car, from reoffending, rather than sending him to prison.

For the next two years he is banned from entering any fuel station or any of the 7,111 outlets which sell fuel in England and Wales.

She warned Fagg, of Cambridge Crescent, Shepway, that if he breached the order he would go to prison.

Judge Williams said: “You behaved in a thoroughly dishonest way, verging on professional dishonesty because the number of vehicles involved suggests that you were filling vehicles up with fuel to order.”

“You are 60 and have a bad record of dishonesty… it’s time you gave up committing offences.”

The court heard how the offences were also carried out in breach of a conditional discharge made by magistrates in January last year.

Phil Rowley, defending, said Fagg was unemployed because of health difficulties.

The judge told him: “You could have no complaints had I sent you immediately to prison but I have concluded I can suspend the sentence for three reasons.

“Firstly you have pleaded guilty, secondly because of your serious health problems but finally because I believe I can prevent you from committing this particular type of offence again.”

For the next four months he has to wear an electronic tag and stay at home between 9pm and 7am.