A CONMAN has been jailed for eight weeks after he aroused suspicions in Aldeburgh with his bogus tales of why he needed money.

Richard Smith

A CONMAN has been jailed for eight weeks after he aroused suspicions in Aldeburgh with his bogus tales of why he needed money.

Andrew Strowger knocked on doors and claimed he needed money for a variety of causes.

But, says Suffolk police, he came unstuck when he told a story about needing cash for an NVQ course - only to be confronted by an NVQ assessor who disbelieved him.

An off duty policeman also saw Strowger knocking on doors and decided to call officers.

He was jailed by magistrates in Lowestoft but no order was made to pay compensation or costs.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said yesterday that Strowger admitted theft on February 27 and he admitted six offences of fraud by false representation on February 28 and three similar offences on February 29.

Nikki Carrier, a constable with Aldeburgh's Safer Neighbourhood Team, told the town council the man had knocked on the doors of many people in the town asking for donations or sponsorship but all the reasons were false.

Pc Carrier said: ''The male had also resided at various B&Bs within the town and left without paying his bill.

''This series of frauds has raised awareness within the town of how generous local residents are and also how many people were willing to donate monies to someone at their door who could not provide any authentic identification or paperwork for his collections.

''Please can residents be aware of giving money at the door to strangers and if you are in any doubt to the authenticity of the caller then they should be able to provide identification or please make police aware so that we can check on your behalf.''

Anne-Marie Breach, a Suffolk police spokeswoman, said: ''Andrew Strowger, 28, then of Harling Way Leiston, was arrested in Aldeburgh on 29 February.

''He was calling door to door purporting to need sponsorship money for an NVQ course in catering.

''He called at the home of an NVQ assessor in Aldeburgh about 9.30am on February 29 who challenged him, asking questions as to why he was seeking funding when it should be covered by his employer. He realised he was trying to deceive him and said he couldn't help him.''

She added that Strowger was also seen going round houses by an off-duty police officer who then alerted his colleagues and he was arrested at about 9.50am.