A prolific cowboy trader has been jailed after tricking several pensioners into paying for unnecessary work to their properties, demanding thousands of pounds in cash in return.

Tony Saunders, of Spade Lane, Hartlip, conned many elderly victims across the Swale and Medway areas into wrongly paying large fees.

Between February and April 2021, the 23-year-old cold-called the homes of victims saying vital repairs were needed to roofs and chimneys. He wore clothing and used a van with logos for ‘ATS Paving and Building Ltd’.

The business appeared to victims to be legitimate, with quality assurances provided on a leaflet handed to them, including claims of Check-a-trade accreditations.

Victims were given quotes which rapidly escalated and any work carried out was substandard and often unfinished.

In March last year, a 76-year-old man initially agreed to pay Saunders £7,000 for roof repairs to his Faversham home. After work commenced, he was met with demands for £25,000.

The victim challenged the men but Saunders threatened to empty a skip onto his driveway and remove all materials if he was not paid.

Police arrested Saunders on April 7 in Istead Rise, Gravesend, after being called to reports of two scammed neighbours, both in their 80s.

An investigation established he had also been operating in areas of Chatham, Sittingbourne and New Romney.

Saunders was also investigated for a separate case in 2019, when an unknown suspect knocked at the door of an elderly woman in Chatham and claimed to be from Trading Standards.

The person knew the victim was previously targeted by rogue traders and informed her the perpetrators had been arrested and that she was entitled to compensation.

The victim, aged in her 80s, was later contacted by telephone and told before she received the compensation she would first need to pay for court fees and staff.

"It is pleasing to see that justice has caught up with Saunders and he is rightly behind bars."

She made nine withdrawals from her bank account, totalling almost £30,000 between April 4 and 18, 2019. Saunders stopped her on multiple occasions while she was driving home from the bank, to take the cash from her.

On Friday last week, Saunders, who pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to six counts of fraud by false representation with another two counts taken into consideration, four counts linked to money laundering, was sentenced to four years and 10 months.

He also admitted a further, unrelated, charge of affray. This was linked to his involvement in a fight in Herne Bay, in July 2020.

Det Sgt Adam Stallard, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "Saunders preyed upon the elderly and vulnerable under the guise of operating a legitimate business.

"He invented or exaggerated fears related to the integrity and safety of victims’ roofs and chimneys, often demanding instant cash payments for so called urgent repairs.

"Site surveys were later completed by a genuine chartered surveyor at the home addresses of victims. All of these surveys found that the works were mostly unnecessary, were to an extremely poor standard and were substantially overpriced.

"It is pleasing to see that justice has caught up with Saunders and he is rightly behind bars. We will now use legislation contained under the Proceeds of Crime Act to ensure he doesn’t continue to benefit from his crimes when he is released from prison."