A NEW Forest pensioner was fleeced of hundreds of pounds by a ruthless gang who cruelly tricked him over the resurfacing of his drive.

Edgar Feltham, 82, paid six times the value for the work done, which an expert slammed as sub-standard.

But the vulnerable victim would have suffered even worse had the police not intervened as he was about to be targeted for a second time.

Mr Feltham, who lives alone, was initially approached by a man with an Irish accent who persuaded him his drive needed resurfacing and quoted him £270, which he thought was cheap and agreed.

The following morning, the con man and three accomplices turned up but, half an hour later, the rogue told Mr Feltham he had misunderstood the price, which was really £2,700.

When the victim protested, the fraudster explained the £270 was only a down payment.

Stephen Parish, prosecuting at Southampton Crown Court, said Mr Feltham made two withdrawals totalling £2,300 from his building society which he handed over and was then reassured that was the full payment.

The following day, one of the three accomplices arrived at his bungalow with two newcomers who continued re-laying the drive. The man with the Irish accent then turned up and told him he had got the job on the cheap because it would normally cost £8,000.

Mr Feltham, however, demanded his name and he was handed a leaflet with two telephone numbers on it. One was discovered as being that of the grandmother of Charlie Doherty whose fingerprint was also found on the document.

The man, however, kept pressing Mr Feltham for more money and he eventually went back to his building society where he withdrew another £2,000.

The pensioner later told his son-in-law what had happened and the police were informed.

But the court heard the gang tried to dupe Mr Feltham a second time weeks later.

In what Mr Parish labelled as "a common scam", a man with an Irish accent rang Mr Feltham and promised to return his money.

"He proposed to give him a cheque for £9,000 which Mr Feltham would pay into his account and then write him a cheque for £4,500 which he would give to the man as 'change'. Of course, the cheque for £9,000 would be worthless and if Mr Feltham had put the money into his account and his cheque met, they would steal another £4,500."

Fortunately he told his brother-in-law who informed the police and they arrested Doherty close to Mr Feltham's home.

Nearby they also found a van from which they recovered two films from disposable cameras. When they were developed, they showed the gang at work in the area.

Mr Parish said a chartered surveyor examined Mr Feltham's drive. "He concluded to surface it properly, a contractor would charge about £2,000.

"This work was sub-standard, inadequately prepared, of insufficient thickness and poor material.

"The maximum it is worth is £727. Mr Feltham paid six times that amount."

Doherty, 18, from Salford, near Manchester, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain money by deception.

He was remanded in custody until April 16 for the preparation of probation and psychiatric reports.