A "liar" who demanded £250,000 compensation - claiming he was so disabled he could not work - has been jailed for 16 months after he was caught secretly doing shifts at a High Wycombe chip shop.

Amar Masud, 44, from Adelaide Road, slipped a disc while lifting a heavy table in the furniture factory where he worked in 2013 and went on to sue his employers for £250,000.

He quit his job and claimed he was so badly hurt that he wouldn't be able to work for at least ten years.

But he was followed by investigators and videoed working behind the counter of a fish-and-chip shop near his High Wycombe home.

His case was thrown out and his employer's insurers, AXA Insurance Plc, went on to bring a claim against him for contempt of court.

Now Judge Peter Blair QC has caged him for 16 months over his "lying" bid for a payout.

London's High Court heard that his accident at work, during which he was genuinely injured, happened in 2013.

However he went on to exaggerate the effects of his injury, claiming he was unable to earn a living and badly disabled.

He was videoed driving in 2014 and working in 2015, having sworn he was capable of doing neither, said the judge.

Judge Blair said: "In his statement of truth he says, 'I cannot think of what work I will be able to do in future if, as seems to be the case, my current symptoms remain'.

"During the course of surveillance, he was seen working behind the counter of a food takeaway shop. I am completely satisfied that his answer in the statement of truth is completely false and that he lied to the court.

"It is plain that he walked and moved around without difficulty. He is seen to crouch down on his haunches, bend down and lean over doing washing up and move with apparent ease, which is utterly at odds with his demeanour whenever examined by a consultant at hospital."

Masud had also sworn he was "unlikely to be able to work in the ten years following the accident", said the judge, adding: "That was another lie, proved by the surveillance observation of him."

Going on, the judge said Mr Masud had suffered a genuine injury but exaggerated its effect on him.

"He feigns his disability when he thinks he is, or might be, observed," he said.

"When he doesn't think he is observed, he has really quite a good range of movement.

"He was making up a large part of his disability," he said.

"He said in his statement of truth: 'I do not drive my car anymore because of my injuries.' He was videoed driving on four separate occasion in 2015. That statement was again a lie.

"I have no hesitation whatsoever in coming to the conclusion that this defendant deliberately lied to the court for financial gain and has not put forward any explanation or apology for it.

"I have come to the conclusion that I should commit him to prison. It is not in my view appropriate to suspend such an order.

"I commit him to custody for a period of 16 months, as a result of his proved contempt of court."

Mr Masud was not in court for the hearing.