A Borough Green rogue builder has been locked up for two years after banking thousands of pounds from customers for work he didn't do.

At Maidstone Crown Court last week Ron Folgate was also ordered to pay compensation of up to £45,000 after a series of frauds between 2012 and 2015.

Among Folgate’s victims, was a woman living in Rochester who paid £1172 in advance for a new kitchen, after she had previously used him for work undertaken through an insurance company.

He never showed up and despite promises failed to pay her back.

Folgate, aged 31 and formerly of Annetts Hall, Borough Green, also defrauded a recruitment company out of as much as £30,000 after hiring tradesmen for work in the area.

He falsified timesheets which allowed the workers to be paid, whilst using their labour on other sites and keeping these payments. He failed to repay the recruitment company what he owed them.

Investigations by both Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police uncovered further frauds, relating to the sale of mobile phones and electrical goods, as well as a ticketing scam for major concerts and sporting events, including the FA Cup and Wimbledon. Folgate had set up a website advertising tickets, pocketing money from eager customers, who were then left empty handed.

"Folgate was a con merchant who duped people into paying him often large sums of money for services or goods which then never materialised." -Craig Malthouse, detective constable

He was arrested by Kent Police in July, 2014 and pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud, with each count spanning several months of criminal activity. Folgate was sentenced on 3 February.

Craig Malthouse, detective constable, said: "Folgate was a con merchant who duped people into paying him often large sums of money for services or goods which then never materialised.

"In total, at least 25 people, living in both the Kent and London areas were found to have been victims of his crimes and he has rightly been given a custodial sentence and ordered to pay back what he stole."