A newsagent who ran an Oyster card top-up scam for more than two years has been ordered to repay the £23,000 he stole.

Girish Patel, of New Park Road, Cricklewood, defrauded customers at his shop in Lambeth by failing to top up their Oyster cards with the amount requested and pocketing the difference.

The 63-year-old will now have to pay £23,000 to Transport for London (TfL) by July 2015 or he will be jailed.

Only one of the defrauded customers could be traced as most of them used unregistered cards.

Patel's contract with TfL as a ticket shop agent was cancelled and he will never be able to reapply.

Acting Detective Superintendent John Oldham, of the Metropolitan Police's Roads and Transport Policing Command said: "This was a despicable and contemptuous crime in which Patel defrauded his customers for over two years, stealing their money by topping-up their Oyster cards with less than what they had paid for them.

"As a result of his crime he has not only served a lengthy prison sentence, but is also being made to pay back the money he stole."

Patel was previously convicted of two counts of fraud and jailed for 14 months on November 9, 2013.

He denied owning any assets in the UK or abroad but as a result of financial investigation it was found that he owned a property and had several thousands of pounds in several bank accounts.

Steve Burton, TfL's director of enforcement and on-street operations, said: "This is a great result for the MPS Roads and Transport Policing Command who worked closely with our internal audit team to uncover the fraudulent actions of Mr Patel.

“He abused the trust of his customers and the contract he had as a TfL ticket shop agent. His sentencing will go a long way to show our customers that we take all forms of fraud seriously and will continue to work with our policing partners to push for the toughest penalties."