A cowboy tradesman who fleeced customers out of thousands of pounds for home improvements he never intended to carry out was today jailed for two years and eight months.

Robert Cooper, trading as RCA Home Design, was locked up by a judge at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to dishonestly receiving money from more than 20 consumers across West and South Yorkshire, including Bradford.

The court heard Cooper got his victims to hand over deposits ranging from £100 to £2,000 for kitchens and bathrooms that he knew he would never deliver.

Speaking after the hearing, West Yorkshire Trading Standards divisional manager David Lodge said: “The service is pleased to have been able to stop the trading practices of Robert Cooper and obtain some justice for his victims.

“This has been a lengthy ongoing investigation and we hope that today’s sentence will be of some comfort to the complainants who have lost money at the hands of Robert Cooper”.

Councillor Bill Urry, of the Trading Standards Committee, said “This is a good result and let this be a warning to traders trying to mislead consumers, West Yorkshire Trading Standards are focussed on tackling such scams and will take legal action against such traders.”