A DOORSTEP conman who ripped off an East Lancashire pensioner has been jailed for 16 months.

Brothers Anthony and Charlie Smith cheated 86-year-old Mary Chew out of £250 by falsely claiming they had power-washed her driveway then treated her back garden.

Burnley Crown Court has heard how Anthony Smith even drove her from her home in the Valley Gardens area of Barnoldswick to the town centre when she had run out of cash.

Charlie Smith, 39, of Bank Street, Barnoldswick, denied fraud and theft but was convicted after a trial.

He was jailed for the offences but his brother Anthony, 31, also of Bank Street, hwo admitted to the same charges, had his sentence adjourned until December 24 by Judge Sara Dodd.

Jurors at an earlier hearing were told the Smiths offered to power wash Mrs Smith's drive for £375, an offer she declined.

But the younger Smith was persistent and she eventually relented.

The brothers were caught out after a taxi driver, who ran Mrs Chew and Anthony Smith to a bank in town, pointed him out to police.