A Twickenham conman who posed as an antiques dealer to steal valuables worth hundreds of thousands of pounds from the elderly has been jailed.

Peter Taylor, aged 61, targeted people desperate for money to pay their mortgages, fund their old age or provide financial help to their family.

He used flyers and business cards with the trading names 'Chelsea Auction House' and 'Muck2Brass' to promote his services, and claimed to be from an established auction house.

He went into his victims' homes to view antiques, offering to value them himself or invite experts to assess them.

In fact, Taylor would keep or sell the items, which included artworks, rugs, jewellery, furniture and kitchenware, without passing on the cash to the owners.

He was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of 11 counts of fraud following a trial which concluded in January.

In passing sentence at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Sarah Paneth said Taylor had been motivated by 'greed and arrogance'.

She said: "All the evidence demonstrates that everything you've done is for your own profit, that once you got the items you treated them as your own and regarded their owners as annoyances who you simply swatted away or even abused.

"You abused the trust of decent, trusting people."

The overall value of the 11 victims' losses was in the region of £200,000, and Taylor had not shown any remorse for causing them 'considerable distress'.

Helen Shaw, district crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "Peter Taylor presented himself as a trustworthy businessman from a reputable auction house - but in fact he was far from this.

"Taylor dishonestly took precious items from his victims and either sold them on for less than they were worth or held on to them for his own gain.

"During the trial a number of the victims gave vital evidence detailing the fraud, and the difficult toll that it had taken on their personal lives and finances. Many of the victims described being left feeling anxious and stressed by the scam.

"Fraud can have a profound effect on the confidence of victims and the CPS is dedicated to rooting out those who carry out this type of crime so that they can face justice."

Lady Patsy Alliott, who gave evidence a month before her 90th birthday, described 'suffering extreme distress and anxiety' as a result of Taylor's actions. Among the items she lost was a rosewood jewellery box.

Roy Turner said he lost between £5,000 and £10,000 after entrusting Taylor to sell his collection of watercolours and prints.

"I now realise I am probably a vulnerable old man. I didn't think I was," he said.

Chef Eric Payet, who was having money troubles, believes he lost at least £112,000 after allowing Taylor to clear out two of his restaurants of expensive kitchen equipment, furniture and artwork.

Maria Gabriela Ponce de Leao, herself an antiques dealer for around 30 years, lost items she considered to be her "life savings" worth around £40,000, including a £2,500 cuckoo clock, a Cartier box and an 18-carat gold ring.

Taylor, who also used the name Peter Tillott, once featured on Channel 5's Cowboy Builders programme.

The court heard Taylor has two previous convictions for 10 offences and was previously jailed for four years over a £1.4 million scam involving his property development business.