ROGUE traders conned an elderly woman out of her life savings.

Four men - one of whom is already behind bars for a similar offence - are due to return to Bournemouth Crown Court for sentence later this month after the victim paid out £120,000 for shoddy and unnecessary work.

The woman, now aged 88, was targeted between March 2013 and July 2015.

She paid out money by writing cheques for work that had either not been completed or had been poorly completed.

She was also over-charged for work that had been done over the period,

Officers from Dorset Police were called by staff at Lloyds Bank in Ferndown on July 23 2015.

Bank employees said they were concerned about transactions from the victim’s account.

Detectives later discovered the woman had initially been contacted by John Hart, who asked if she wanted house insulation installed as part of a government scheme.

Over the course of the two years, the victim paid him £56,400 for work that wasn’t needed.

Philip Budden also then carried out poor and unnecessary work, for which he charged the victim £24,059. The money was paid in cheques.

Daniel Baker claimed to work for the council. He told the victim he’d found a water leak which had been traced to her address.

The victim was asked to pay £40,400 for the repairs. Investigators were unable to find evidence that any work had taken place at all.

Daniel Sherwood was convicted of receiving some of the money Baker had been paid by the victim.

The woman also paid for further work to her home, including repairs to her roof, insulation, damp proofing and general maintenance to the house and garden.

Independent experts found the prices quoted were excessive and work had either not been carried out or was badly done.

Hart, 62 and of Hannington Place, Bournemouth, and Budden, 37 and of Malmesbury Park Road, both admitted fraud by false representation on Monday, October 2.

Hart, a boxing coach who once appeared on TV show Builders from Hell, went on the run in May after fleecing a Swindon pensioner out of tens of thousands of pounds.

He later handed himself in and was jailed for five years by a judge sitting at Swindon Crown Court.

Baker, 40 and of Cartwright Close, Bournemouth, admitted money laundering offences.

Sherwood, 34 and of Ringwood Road, Bournemouth, was convicted of two counts of money laundering following a five-day trial.

Sherwood has also been to prison before for tricking a pensioner into paying thousands of pounds for unnecessary work.

The defendants will be sentenced on Friday, October 27.

Detective Inspector Fiona Gaffney said: “These men targeted a vulnerable, elderly woman and conned her into thinking work was needed at her home.”