A cowboy gardener who conned elderly and vulnerable victims out of thousands of pounds was ordered to pay nearly £100,000 in compensation, seven months after he was jailed for offering sham services.

Benjamin Brown, 62, formerly of Cox Lane, Epsom, appeared at a confiscation order in Guildford Crown Court via video-link last week.

Judge Neil Stewart ordered Brown to pay £97,650 to his victims during the hearing on Tuesday, May 17.

Brown has three months to pay up or face an additional two years in jail.

At his sentencing for fraud last year Brown was told to pay £279,970.40. He has yet to pay this and has been given 28 days from May 17, (June 14) to pay or be handed an additional two years in jail.

During his trial in 2015 Guildford Crown Court heard he declared only £82,672 of £747,590 earnings from 2006 to 2012 to the authorities - meaning £664,918 was undeclared.

From April 2014: Gardener accused of blackmailing customers and money laundering 'has psychiatric problems', court hears

From July 2015: VIDEO: 'Born-again Christian' traveller admits scamming elderly victims out of up to £665,000 with his gardening business

From October: Jailed: 'Aggressive' traveller gardener Benjamin Brown who scammed elderly victims out of thousands of pounds for sham work

Brown was jailed for three and a half years in October after pleading guilty to eight counts of fraud and four counts of money laundering.

He targeted his vulnerable victims between 2006 and 2012 in Sutton, Wallington, Richmond and Twickenham, as well as across Surrey.

Surrey Comet:

Using the trading name Greenfingers Gardening and Homecare Property Maintenance, Brown advertised services including landscape gardening, paving and fencing in local newspapers including the Epsom Guardian and the Sutton Guardian.

In February 2013, a retired woman saw Brown's advert in the local newspaper and phoned him to carry out some landscape gardening.

Brown charged her £12,000, later reduced to £11,000, for work that he had been verbally quoted would cost between £4,000 and £6,000.

In a second case Brown was contacted by an elderly woman to carry out fence repairs in her garden after seeing his advert in the local paper.

She was charged £10,500 for a short run of fence and a gate.

When Brown completed the fence he proceeded to lift the garden patio slabs, despite being told to stop by the pensioner. Brown re-laid the path and charged her a further £1,500 which she paid.

When Brown was originally sentenced in October, Judge Christopher Critchlow ordered him to pat a £120 victim surcharge.

Were you a victim of Benjamin Brown? Contact the newsdesk on 020 8722 6483 or email newsdesk@epsomguardian.co.uk