A customer of a Northamptonshire garage who refused to pay after their car was fixed has appeared before magistrates on a theft charge.

Brian Joyce booked in his car with Lodge Tyres in Corby last December for a service and later neglected to pay for the work.

The Northamptonshire Telegraph reports that Joyce, of Dunlop Close in Corby, drove off without paying the £250 bill.

The 25-year-old appeared this month at Northampton Magistrates Court to admit one charge of theft, and he was sentenced to a community order which includes 15 rehabilitation requirement days.

Joyce was ordered to pay the cash to Lodge Tyres and a £114 victim surcharge at a rate of £20 per month.

Earlier this year a fraudster ended up in court after he held Beacon Garage's courtesy car hostage for almost five months while falsely claiming insurers would pay the estimated £8,000 bill for fully fixing his Land Rover.

Our digital products