A fraudulent car dealer who conned customers out of £208,000 has been jailed for two years.

Steve Meade, of Walton Road, East Molesey, contacted people advertising their vehicles for sale on car dealership websites and convinced them to sell their vehicles with him through his company Surrey Prestige Cars Ltd.

Each victim signed a contract which Meade broke by selling the vehicles and not reimbursing the owners with the money.

Some owners of high end cars such as Maserati, Mercedes and BMW did get some money but were still left out of pocket.

The 51-year-old was jailed at Guildford Crown Court on Thursday, April 23, after having been found guilty of fraudulent trading following a trial in March.

The offences took place between September 11, 2009, and April 12, 2010, when the business was run from different premises in Surrey, lastly from Walton Road, East Molesey.

Carley Saint James, from Staines CID specialist fraud department, said: "This scam left the victims thousands of pounds out of pocket, which in itself has caused irreparable damage to the lives of some.

"They have had to go through the indignity of having debt collectors call at the house because the finance on the car has not been paid, have had their credit history questioned, having to borrow more money to purchase another car or even having to sell the family home.

"Some are still suffering from the emotional and financial impact of the actions of this man. I can only hope that it will be of some comfort to them that justice has now been served in that Meade is now beginning his prison sentence."