The leader of a gang of rogue traders which made more than £1.3 million by conning elderly people tried to get out of repaying the cash by claiming he had spent some of it on Big Fat Gypsy Wedding-style presents.

David Price led a gang of travellers who ripped off victims across the country by massively overcharging for unnecessary, shoddy home maintenance or gardening jobs, carefully picking the most vulnerable householders.

He and members of his family from Brigg, Humberside, were jailed at Teesside Crown Court in 2011 for fraud and money laundering. A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing was held this week.

Price, 44, who is currently serving more than seven-and-a-half years, told the hearing he spent thousands on weddings for others in his community, jewellery and furs from Bond Street, his horses and vans, as well as gambling and cigarettes.

He told the court the show Big Fat Gypsy Weddings showed how travellers often clubbed together to pay for lavish ceremonies and splashed out on generous presents.

But Judge Howard Crowson, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, said: “In Mr Price’s evidence there was an attempt to persuade me that it is part of his culture to provide lavish gifts at weddings and a reference to popular television in support.

"If I regarded popular television as a guide to behaviour in the general population I would do a disservice to the general population. Mr Price produced no evidence of any such purchase and mentioned not a single person to whom he had made such a gift.”

The gang was found to have benefited from their crimes by a total of £1,338,047.40 and must repay £413,948.35 of that – but should their assets increase in future, they could be forced to pay back the full amount.

Price now faces a longer jail term if he does not repay £368,350.77 of the £455,629 he was found to have benefited from through crime. His wife Angelina Price, also known as Nicholson, must pay back £22,149.60 of the £509,384.56 she benefited from.

North Yorkshire Trading Standards officers began an 18-month investigation into the Prices after the gang moved to an illegal site off the A1 at Dishforth while on their way to Appleby Horse Fair and there were complaints about elderly people being conned by doorstep traders offering to carry out gardening work.