A FRAUDSTER who conned people out of more than £150,000 over the course of 12 years has been jailed.

Simon Hayes, aged 48, of Henrietta Street, Leigh, admitted fraud at a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on February 13.

He was jailed for 40 months on March 6, for multiple offences between January 2001 and June 2013.

Hayes would approach victims at their home or in car parks, claiming to be able to get them cheap electrical goods, which would never arrive at their addresses after they had given him money.

Some people were also asked to lend Hayes money to start a new business, which he never repaid them.

The £150,050 Hayes acquired fraudulently will be the subject of a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing on June 6.

PC Paul Taylor, from the police's fraud team, said: "The range of offences shows how Hayes would do absolutely anything to get money and how trusting he came across to the people he stole from.

“From our investigations, it seemed that Hayes spent most of his money on gambling and has been barred from several bookmakers across the Wigan and Leigh area."