A FATHER has lost more than £60,000 after trying to buy a motor home for his severely disabled son from two North-East businessmen who have since fled the region.

Tom Blair wanted the vehicle to take his wheelchair-bound son Iain, 26, who has cerebral palsy, on holidays.

He told The Northern Echo he felt "duped" after handing over £62,000 to Gary Upson, 67, and his son Ryan, 34, before they disappeared from their Darlington firm, Just Trucks.

Detectives hunting them believe they made off with more than £500,000 of customers' cash, as revealed in The Northern Echo in June.

Durham Police last night released pictures of the wanted pair. And Detective Constable Tim Lerner, from the force's fraud squad, will appear on television's Watchdog programme tonight with Mr Blair to appeal for information on their whereabouts.

Mr Blair, 62, paid the last instalment for his van in March last year but never received the vehicle. "They came to my house and they met Iain," he said. "They even bought him a Christmas present.

"Now I think I was down to be duped from the start, like everybody else. If they are capable of ripping off someone like Iain, they are capable of anything. They have no conscience at all."

Mr Blair, who cares for his son full-time, ordered a customised vehicle from Just Trucks, which usually only supplied horse boxes.

It was to have beds, a shower and toilet, cooking facilities and special equipment for lifting Iain, a quadriplegic who cannot speak.

The widower, from Acklam, Middlesbrough, was originally told the cost would be £47,000 but the price crept up each time he spoke to the Upsons.

They came up with a string of reasons why the vehicle was not ready after he paid the last of five instalments. "The first excuse was the second Gulf War was holding up parts from the States," said Mr Blair. "Then Gary said his brother had been killed in a bizarre accident.

"The final excuse was that he had cancer. At that point I knew I wasn't going to see the van at all."

The retired British Steel worker has lost the most money of the 40 Just Trucks customers who have contacted Durham Police.

He said: "I feel I have let Iain down by being taken in by the Upsons. I have been promising him the van for a long time.

"We do get out and about but we have to use public transport. I wanted to take him somewhere different."

Mr Blair said his van was eventually seized by bailiffs. No work had been done to customise it and it was worth about £2,000. It has since been sold at auction.

Det Con Lerner said: "I think the Upsons have very cleverly and very callously taken the money off Mr Blair.

"They have befriended the family with a view, to my mind, of getting money off them. They are obviously very unscrupulous people."

He said he hoped appearing on Watchdog would help him find the Upsons.

"It's been well publicised in this area but I have had no calls and am not aware of any sightings. I want any clue at all as to where they are."

Anyone with information should call Det Con Lerner on 0191-375 2261.

* Watchdog is on BBC1 tonight at 7pm.