A MAN who suspected he had been handed a fake cheque for a £9,000 caravan chased the buyers along the A1, before tipping off police who arrested them.

Nicholas Pszczola, 28, and Kamilla Collins, 26, both from Lichfield, Staffordshire, had given a cheque for £9,250 to James Watson, of Eastbourne Road, Darlington, to buy his Hobby twin-axle caravan, Darlington Magistrates' Court was told.

Jacqueline Gibson, prosecuting, said the owner received a telephone call from Collins, who gave a false name and arranged to travel from Watford to buy the caravan.

The defendants arrived in a Ford Mondeo on May 11 and met Mr Watson and his wife.

Collins handed over a cheque for £9,250. When Mr Watson asked for reassurance that the cheque was not a fake, she wrote her name and address on the reverse. The details were false.

Minutes after they left, Mr Watson became suspicious and called the police, who confirmed the cheque and car's registration plates were fake.

Mr Watson followed them at a distance, along the A1 to Pontefract, in West Yorkshire.

When the caravan stopped, he contacted police and the pair were arrested.

Mike Rayner, mitigating for Collins, said that she was of previous good character and that the defendants were not a couple.

He said that she had not signed or handed over the cheque for the caravan and that she had only "come along for the ride".

However, she accepted that she was present and that the cheque had not come from Pszczola's bank account.

Rory Todd, mitigating for Pszczola, said that he had found the cheque at a market in Lichfield, and accepted he used a false document to purchase the caravan.

He said Pszczola was experiencing financial difficulties at the time and that the temptation was too great for him, but that he accepted responsibility for his actions.

Chairwoman of the bench Marie Waller, said: "This is a serious matter. We feel this was a joint enterprise and it was planned and professionally carried out."

The pair will be sentenced on June 14.