A ROGUE tradesman who conned a woman into paying hundreds of pounds for shoddy and unnecessary work to her home and garden has been jailed.

Lawrence Crossling, 33, approached the woman at her home in Horden, Peterlee, and charged her for work to the roof and chimney at the property.

He also offered to clear her front garden, weeds, erect a fence and remove waste from an old garage, as well as lay wood chippings and treat the garden with weed killer.

Crossling, of the Haven Gypsy and Travellers site, at South Bank, Middlesbrough, was found guilty of five offences under the Consumer Protection Act and the Fraud Act between 2014 and 2015.

Peterlee magistrates sentenced him to 26 weeks in prison, ordered to pay the woman £1,770 in compensation. He was given a Criminal Behaviour Order for three years.