A serial conman who told a Tinder date he had kidney failure to swindle her out of more than £3,000 has been jailed for three years.

Paul Gillett, 28, claimed he needed money to cover medical bills after having a kidney removed.

Between February and April 2017 he conned £3,182 from Rebecca Rouse after meeting her on dating app Tinder.

On Monday Gillett, of Carmathen, Wales, was jailed for three years after he admitted three frauds and 21 similar matters at Worcester Crown Court.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright told him: "You have significant previous convictions for offences of dishonesty which led to the imposition of a suspended sentence in November 2016.

"You went to very great lengths to persuade her you had a serious medical condition. You were lying to her in a number of other ways as well.

"You bought dressings and applied them to your body to cover what you were pretending was some sort of procedure or operation mark or scar when the whole thing was a fraud.

"She had been the most affected. She had offered you both emotional and financial support."

The court heard he also committed 19 further frauds, including selling two non-existent Ed Sheeran tickets, two drones and an iPhone.

Combined with his kidney con, Gillett raked in £7,500 from his scams.

The court heard he met Ms Rouse on Tinder in early 2017 claiming he was a funeral director.

He told her he was seriously ill and had to have a kidney removed.

Ms Rouse gave Gillett cash for treatment but found out he was back on Tinder and doing the same con trick to other women.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright told Gillett: “You have significant previous convictions for offences of dishonesty which led to the imposition of a suspended sentence in November 2016.

“You went to very great lengths to persuade her you had a serious medical condition. You were lying to her in a number of other ways as well. You bought dressings and applied them to your body to cover what you were pretending was some sort of procedure or operation mark or scar when the whole thing was a fraud.”

The judge said the victim in the medical fraud had been the most affected of the three. She had offered Gillett both emotional and financial support.

On Monday Judge Cartwright jailed Gillett for three years, activating an 18 month suspended prison sentence for a previous fraud offence which was imposed in 2016, and added a consecutive 18 months for the more recent frauds.

Prosecutor Michael Conry said his victim said they would find it hard to trust anyone again and called the fraud "downright nasty".

One victim told police: "I have been struggling with life and dealing with suicidal thoughts and wanted to take my own life because of the difficulties of dealing with this."

Mr Conry said of the medical fraud: "His intention was to make her feel sorry for him."

The court heard that Gillett still owed £12,500 to victims of a fraud in 2012 but had not paid them back a penny.

Mark Lister, defending, said: "At the time Mr Gillett was at a low ebb and felt lonely and had no other means and had lost contact with his family.

"In those circumstances he simply fell back into the fraudulent activity that brings him back before the court."