A BUSINESSMAN who conned Bury Council out of nearly £750,000 over a six year period in building tenders has been jailed for 18 months.

Builder Dennis Brandwood was also ordered to pay back £250,000 to Bury Council within 12 months.

Bolton Crown Court heard how the 65-year-old had tendered bids for his building contractors firm to carry out work for Bury Council in various properties in Radcliffe. He then submitted inflated bids under several false names to make his tender more attractive.

Prosecutor Charlotte Crangle estimated that Brandwood made up to £100,000 in profitsfrom the scam. But Brandwood was caught in March 2001 after two families complained about the poor quality of work carried out on their properties.

Brandwood, of Radcliffe New Road, Whitefield, admitted a total of 51 charges of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception by falsely getting work worth £732,000.

Judge Russell told Brandwood at Bolton Crown Court that it was his "greed" that had led to his downfall.

Defending, Anthony Morris said that Brandwood was not a "cowboy builder" and there were only two occasions when people complained about the quality of his work during a six year period.

Bury Council and Greater Manchester Police's Commercial Fraud Unit launched an investigation which lasted 12 months and found that Brandwood had been obtaining thousands of pounds worth of building grants by deception. Sentencing Brandwood, Judge Russell said it was tragic that a man of his age was in court facing serious charges for the first time in his life. He said that only a custodial sentence was the right punishment for the serious offences he had committed.

Det Insp Alan Sheppard said: "This is a case of an unscrupulous builder taking advantage of the system. He recognised an easy way of making money and exploited it."

He added that systems within Bury Council had been tightened up and more thorough checks were being done on all applications.