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A conman carpet cleaner who swindled £200,000 from vulnerable and elderly customers has been ordered to repay just £350.

Adam Vallier ripped off customers all over the South West by offering them a cut price cleaning service and then overcharging for extra work which was not needed.

He received a suspended sentence at Exeter Crown Court last year but was also investigated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The inquiry showed that while he and his two companies had made more than £200,000 from the scam, there is no money left.

Recorder Miss Elizabeth Bussey-Jones confirmed the benefit figure as £219,007.12 but set the available amount as £350. Vallier was ordered to pay this within two weeks or go to jail for 14 days.

Mr David Sapiecha, prosecuting, said Vallier's two carpet cleaning companies are in liquidation and he has almost no personal assets.

Vallier, aged 35, of Hennington Road, Pokesdown, Bournemouth was found guilty at a trial last year of two counts of fraud, one of misleading customers, and admitted three of engaging in unfair commercial practices.

He was jailed for 12 months, suspended for a year and ordered to do 250 hours unpaid community work.

Recorder Mr Adam Vaitilingam, QC, branded his techniques as an insidious blight on society and his behaviour as cavalier, corrupt and deeply unpleasant.

Vallier and his two companies swindled customers all over Devon by offering to clean two carpets for £19 or £20 but then charged them up to 22 times more.

The boss and his staff's found excuses to carry out extra work, including a wholly fictitious moth infestation.

Other customers were told their carpets were bigger and dirtier than expected or needed 'a deep clean' work because they were light coloured.

Elderly clients from Exmouth, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, and Torbay ended up paying much more than the £19 offer and in some cases faced bills running into hundreds of pounds.

Vallier and his two companies also lied about being a member of a trade body and being qualified to used a variety of cleaning products and to work on woollen carpets.