A gran says she was left "extremely angry" after being swindled out of hundreds of pounds by a serial fraudster - who blew his victims' money on gambling and porn."

Sue Cashman, 74, was one of 89 people targeted by window shutter installer Lewis Blake, who took clients' cash and disappeared without completing any work.

The retired primary school teacher says she is pleased that the 43-year-old, from Whitstable, Kent, is now behind bars, following a sentencing hearing earlier this month.

She said: "It made me very annoyed and extremely angry that someone dared come into my house and purport to be doing something useful and blatantly taking my money."

Between August 2020 and May 2021, Blake took £64,774 from victims across the county, offering made-up excuses as to why the work was never done.

Between 2019 and 2022, it was found Blake had ordered just 14 shutters while splashing out more than £100,000 gambling and £14,000 on adult websites.

Ms Cashman was contacted by him in September 2020 after looking through a national website which sells window shutters.

The Canterbury resident was says she was offered the blinds for a cheaper rate and felt she was helping a local small business.

She added: "He came to the house and measured up. He had samples and he was very friendly, pleasant and nice."

"I paid half of the money, which was £450, and he said they'd come in December."

"They didn't come so I emailed and asked about them and got an increasingly bizarre range of excuses which I got more suspicious of."

"My son and I went to look where his business was supposed to be but there was nothing in that road."

More than 80 victims met on a dedicated Facebook group after the alarm was raised about Blake, of Gladstone Road, on a social media post.

They realised they had all been scammed in "exactly the same way" and worked together to bring the crook to justice."

Ms Cashman said: "Some of us got our money back - a lot didn't who had paid a lot more than me."

"After a very long, drawn-out process, he has finally been charged, sentenced and gone to prison. Good."

Presenting as a polite and put-together tradesman, customers told police they were happy to pay him half the cost of the window shutters in advance.

However, Blake never returned and gave various excuses including the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and problems with the shipping of the products from overseas.

He pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on January 16 to 18 months' imprisonment.

Blake was also banned from being a company director for seven years.