Brothers who “clocked” the mileage of vehicles they sold in their secondhand car business were given suspended prison sentences.

Naveed Malik, 36, of Wheatlands Drive, Heaton, Bradford, and 42-year-old Dawood Malik, of Back Lane, Wilsden, admitted five counts of fraud.

Prosecutor Shamaila Qureshi told Bradford Crown Court today the defendants traded in motor vehicles. They bought from motor auctions and advertised on websites such as AutoTrader and ebay.

But before selling, they significantly altered the mileage readings of cars and provided customers with misleading MOT certificates and service histories.

One of the victims alerted police when he discovered the vehicle had a false MOT.

One Mondeo car was purported to have a mileage of 67,801 when the actual mileage was 149,520.

Judge Peter Benson said the frauds were pre-planned and pre-meditated involving the fraudulent production of MOT certificates.

But he said the brothers were of good character and held in good standing in the community.

They were both sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid community work.