TWO men who clocked up 66 dodgy debit card transactions in a four-hour, £4,400 spree in Bournemouth and Poole, have been jailed.

Raja Ramasamy and Thomas Jegendass used 18 counterfeit cards to pay for goods in the two towns on June 1 last year.

That visit was one of several to the area during their nine-month nationwide fraud campaign.

Estimated losses came to more than £90,000.

The pair, who both admitted conspiring to commit fraud by false representation, were jailed for two years for the conspiracy and a further six months, to run consecutively, for breaching a conditional discharge.

Ramasamy was sentenced to another two and a half years, also consecutive, for a separate conspiracy charge brought by the dedicated cheque and plastic crime unit in London.

The men, Tamil-speaking Indians who were in the country illegally, were both recommended for deportation when they have served their sentences.

The pair travelled by car on day trips from their base in Perivale, Middlesex, and favoured branches of Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's.

In most cases they made a small purchase, then asked for £50 cashback.

Because the fake cards did not have electronic chips, the fraudsters only had to sign instead of entering a pin number.

Police officers and staff from the Dorset cheque and card unit worked with officers in London to bring the pair to justice.

Internet transactions were also investigated.

Ramasamy, 32, and Jegendass, 27, were arrested in Oxford last October.

They pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court, but the case was transferred to Southwark Crown Court, where Ramasamy was being sentenced for another conspiracy.

Detective Sergeant Richard Niemier of Dorset Police said: "The pair accepted they were partially responsible but said others were also involved.

"That was the basis of their guilty plea.

"Many of the places they visited were clearly not far from main roads and probably that's another reason why they came quite frequently to Bournemouth and Poole."

Det Sgt Niemier added that stores could authorise payment by signature as some people had difficulty using chip and pin.

And he pointed out: "Cards issued by foreign banks either don't have a chip, or the chip is incompatible with what we have.

"There are also occasions when the chip goes wrong."