Two landlords of a town centre pub who submitted £60,000 worth of fake VAT invoices for non-existent refurbishments have been given suspended prison sentences.

Mark Hogg and Nicolina Collings told the HMRC they had carried our refurbishments at pubs and claimed the VAT back.

However, the work had never been done and a total of 75 fake invoices were given to the taxman over a period of two-and-a-half years, a judge heard.

There were the publicans of the Rising Sun, The Forbury, during the time they carried out the scam between 2010 and 2013.

The pair were also ran three other pubs in Camberley, Alton and Blackwater in Hampshire in the fraud and claimed to have carried out work in each pub.

Hogg, 51, was sentenced to two years in jail suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 275 hours of unpaid work.

Collings, 59, was given an 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.

A spokesman for HMRC said they were also going to claim back the money through further court proceedings.

John Cooper, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Hogg and Collings worked together to commit VAT fraud and steal taxpayers’ money. In a vain attempt to get themselves off the hook they produced false invoices but were naïve to think they could get away with it."

In January 2015 the pair of London Road, Blackwater, denied the fraud. However, Hogg changed his plea and admitted the charges in June 2015 and Collings in July 2015.

The fraud totalled £60,556, with £48,076 falsely claimed by Mark Hogg and £12,480 claimed by Nicolina Collings. 

The pair were charged with conspiracy to evade VAT, contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act; cheating the Public Revenue, contrary to Common Law; fraud by false representation, contrary to Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006; fraudulent evasion of VAT, contrary to Section 72 of the VAT Act 1994; and Money Laundering, contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

They were sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday.

 The owners of the public houses, current landlords of  The Rising Sun, and any staff employed by Hogg and Collings were not subject to the HMRC investigation.