A Wishaw car dealer has been jailed after pleading guilty to evading £589,952 VAT over a three-year period in an illegal car importing scam.

John Gilmour, 52, of Lanarkshire, Scotland was arrested by HM Revenue and Customs investigators in February 2003, when he returned from the UK from Cyprus. He had been charged with evading revenue on the importation of over 400 cars between May 1999 and June 2002.

He was sentenced at Edinburgh High Court to a total of two years and three months imprisonment.

HM Revenue & Customs Head of Investigation Scotland, Gordon Miller said: "We have stopped a sustained and deliberate attack on the VAT and vehicle licensing systems in the UK, over a three-year period.”

Miller said Gilmour used the VAT evaded to fund a lavish lifestyle and undercut the legitimate motor trade.