STEVEN Sayer has been jailed for his part in helping an organised gang try to cheat a Cheltenham bank out of £5,000 during Gold Cup week.

The 42-year-old was provided with a forged passport in the name of a Barclays Bank customer, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

He was driven to Cheltenham and put up in a £200 hotel the night before the offence on March 17.

But staff at the Cheltenham branch of Barclays Bank foiled the plot.

Jailing Sayer for 12 months, Judge Martin Picton said: "This was a very sophisticated passport – a clever bit of identity fraud. You were there to take the risks to help those who were going to get more out of this than you were.

"You were there to carry the can if it went wrong. It did go wrong and you are here today."

The court was told Sayer was given the document in the name of Jeremy Hicks.

Prosecutor Derek Ryder said it was thought the timing of Sayer's withdrawal was chosen because it was race week in Cheltenham and a lot of people would have been drawing cash in the town's banks.

He handed the passport to a cashier, saying he had left his debit card at home and wanted to withdraw £5,000.

He was able to give Mr Hicks' date of birth, middle name, mother's maiden name and the answers to other security questions.

He also gave Mr Hicks' home address and business address and knew of his other accounts at Barclays, the court heard.

The passport was one which had been stolen in London and altered so Sayer's picture and his version of a signature appeared in it, said Mr Ryder. The forgery fooled one cashier at the bank, but a more senior official became suspicious and called police.

When officers checked with Mr Hicks, who lives in Newmarket, he told them his own passport was safely at home and he knew nothing about the withdrawal.

Dad-of-four Sayer admitted making a false representation to Barclays on March 17 by providing a bogus passport. He also admitted possessing a false identity document with intent to deceive.