An airport parking scammer has been sent to prison in one of the first cases of its kind after he made £1.4million leaving holidaymakers' cars in muddy fields with keys in the window.

Asad Malik, 38, used fake reviews and photographs of secure car parks hundreds of miles away to trick customers into leaving their vehicles with him when they flew from Gatwick.

The company then dumped them in muddy fields, on street corners and even outside a mosque.

One owner found their car had been driven 185 miles while they were on holiday, others came home to find damage or unpaid parking tickets whilst Keegan Bowes saw his Mini on a TV news bulletin while he was in Spain.

Jailing Malik for 14 months, Judge Paul Tain said that the way the company was run was “almost as if it was a joke”.

Despite concerns about the industry, it is believed to be one of the first times that an airport parking boss has been jailed for scamming customers.