A GANG of conmen who posed as pest controllers to fleece a frail Hampshire pensioner out of thousands of pounds have been ordered to pay the money back.

Michael Black, 46, Richard Cooper, 20, and Robert Cooper, 32, duped a 75-year-old man after claiming he had a rat infestation problem when in fact they had brought the dead rodents into the property themselves.

They fleeced the pensioner out of more than £4,000 by charging inflated amounts for jobs that cost a fraction of the price. The trio were caught after the pensioner, from Fordingbridge, became suspicious and called in the police.

They were jailed in October after admitting fraud charges.

Black was jailed for three years, Robert Cooper for three-and-a-half years and Richard Cooper for two years.

At a hearing at Southampton Crown Court, all three men were brought back to court after police pursued the money trail and prosecutors agreed the money should be repaid.

At the hearing Judge Susan Evans QC ordered the three men split the amount they stole from the victim based on the charges they admitted.

Black was ordered to repay £1,683.33, Richard Cooper £1,333.33 and Robert Cooper £703.27 (money found on him at the time of the arrest had already been seized by police).

All three, from Salisbury, were given a year to pay the money directly back to the victim.