A rogue trader who defrauded an 87-year-old man out of almost £150,000 has been jailed.

Robert Stewart, 21, the sole director of Abbey Roofing and Building Services, cold-called the victim's Edinburgh home and offered to repair a damaged TV aerial.

The homeowner agreed to the maintenance work, only for a group of workers to turn up and repeatedly advise that further, more expensive work was required on the roof.

The initial work began in December 2015 but by March 2016 the pensioner had agreed to £147,460 of major, largely unnecessary, repairs.

Independent surveyors who later evaluated the work noted the absolute upper value would have been £25,000 to £30,000.

They also found the work was sub-standard in places and would cost several thousand pounds to rectify.

Mr Stewart was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of fraud by a jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Speaking following sentencing, procurator fiscal Andrew Richardson said: "We know that offences of this nature can have a devastating effect on victims who are often targeted because of their age.

"There is no shame attached to becoming a victim of highly organised criminals.

"If you are approached by anyone offering to do such work, or notice a friend, family member or neighbour in such circumstances please be vigilant and do not allow these people to take advantage.

"As this demonstrates we can and will disrupt the activities of these bogus workmen who deliberately target elderly householders and convince them they require urgent, costly and wholly unnecessary work to be carried out.

"The Crown has a prosecution policy focused on tackling crimes against older people and working together with police we will ensure that when these cases are reported to us, those responsible are prosecuted and pay for the consequences of their actions."