A ex-council worker and a roofing firm worker have been jailed for fraud and bribery after they conspired to defraud New Forest District Council.

Former council maintenance operative Richard Cullen, aged 55 from Luton, received bribes from 34-year-old Mark Diaper, who worked at a roofing company in Southampton which is now no longer trading. The bribes were paid to secure work for which inflated invoices were submitted. The amount overcharged was more than £88,000 but the jobs referred to the company were worth much more.