A fraudster who preyed on a "vulnerable" Dartford pensioner and tried to trick him into handing over thousands of pounds for sham repair work has been jailed.

During the sentencing of Aaron Wiltshire, the judge at Maidstone Crown Court praised bank staff at Gravesend NatWest for stopping the transaction which would have resulted in man in his 90s scammed out of nearly £20,000.

The judge heard how the victim was contacted by a man who claimed to be a neighbour saying he was having water trouble.

Wiltshire, 31, of Page Crescent in Slade Green, then appeared at the victim's door in Old Perry Street, Northfleet, a few days later and told him his house was having water problems and it would cost £9,000 to repair.

Wiltshire told the pensioner he would need a £3,000 deposit and, believing the scammer, the victim went to the bank to withdraw the cash - but staff became suspicious and declined.

The next day, Wiltshire took the victim in taxis to banks in Dartford to withdraw £1,700 and then demanded even more cash when he took him home. The victim wrote a cheque for £19,800.

But later that night, police stepped in and the cheque and the victims cards were cancelled.

Wiltshire was jailed for four years last month after being found guilty of two counts of fraud, and sentenced to another four weeks for breaching a previous suspended sentence.

Wiltshire was identified by CCTV and arrested.

Investigating officer PC Colin Bassett said: "Wiltshire preyed on a vulnerable man on numerous occasions pressurising him to hand over thousands of pounds of cash without any care for the victim.

"I’d like to echo the judge’s sentiments and commend the staff at the bank for stopping the first large transaction and passing on their concerns. Had it not been for those staff then this case would have had a very different outcome and who knows where it would have stopped."