A GANG of fraudsters who conned a Hampshire pensioner out of his £75,100 life savings for work on his driveway are today behind bars.

The four men tricked their 81-year-old victim into handing over huge sums of cash on 11 occasions.

Today they are starting to serve a total of almost 13 and a half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

Over four years cash was demanded for work carried out, repairs to substandard work, tax and even an insurance policy to help the victim recover his money.

The victim, who the Daily Echo is not naming, is a former psychiatric nurse who spent his life caring for others and was made an MBE for his services to the profession.

In a statement read out in court by prosecutor David Richards, the victim said: "I believe the sentence imposed on this type of criminal who act like parasites in the community should reflect what they have gained and the harm they cause.

"I feel they preyed on me because of their preconceptions of people my age."

Read the full story in today's Daily Echo