A CONMAN tricked an elderly man out of thousands of pounds for gardening work so bad it was described as ‘worthless’.

David Smith, of Dean Court Road in Botley, conned his elderly victim out of £5,000 after cold-calling him in September.

The 54-year-old carried out a number of jobs on his driveway, guttering, gate and garden which Trading Standards has since described as ‘very poor standard’ and in some instances ‘worthless’.

The work was carried out under the company name AS Garden Services and the victim, from Littlemore in Oxford, received no paperwork for the job.

Smith appeared before Oxford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to committing fraud by false representation.

He was handed a 24-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, he will also pay his victim £3,000 compensation.

Oxfordshire County Council head of community safety Richard Webb said: “This case shows that Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team will take action against those who deceive vulnerable members of the public by charging excessive amounts and carrying out poor and unfinished work.”

The council is backing the national Friends Against Scams campaign to help communities combat doorstep crime, details at friendsagainstscams.org.uk