A FAKE car salesman who duped customers out of more than £200,000 will only have to pay back less than half of his profits.

James Fyfe made his fortune by claiming to run the company Prestige Lifestyle Supercars which he promoted online offering Porsches, Lamborghinis, other expensive cars for hire and personalised number plates.

Customers stumped up thousands of pounds for flashy models they had only ever seen online.

He is serving a four year prison sentence for fraud but has only been ordered to return £92,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The 26-year-old used social media to promote the company which had its own Facebook page and boasted a depot in Shoreham. He also advertised on the website Piston Heads. But when customers paid deposits the cars never turned up. Instead he used the money to hire luxury supercars, buy designer clothes as well as treat friends and family to meals out or hotel stays to give the impression of being a successful businessman.

Fyfe, of Hurston Lane, Storrington, even appeared in the national press in December last year pretending a Lamborghini that crashed was rented from his fake company.

He was arrested after a customer reported him to the police when three cars she paid an £88,000 deposit for never arrived.

Sussex Police financial crime investigators found he had benefitted £282,543.60 from his criminality. After looking at his current available assets, he was ordered to pay back£92,464.21 to one of his victims at the court hearing. He has three months to pay up or another 30 months will be added to his prison sentence, and he will still have to foot the bill. Both his mobile phones were also destroyed.

A police spokesman said: "While the order does not reflect the vast amount of money he defrauded from various victims, the Proceeds of Crime Act allows for the confiscation order to be revisited, should further assets be identified in the future."

He was previously convicted for fraud in 2014.