A judge has ordered a convicted fraudster to hand over £25,000 or face a further 13 months behind bars.

Liaquat Khan, 33, was described last year as the ringleader of a scam aimed at defrauding small businesses across the county of up to £2 million.

The fraudsters set up bogus firms under the guise of the Health and Safety Education Agency and a data protection company and illegally obtained payments totalling more than £60,000 from legitimate businesses.

The tricked firms included gyms, solicitors and accountants.

Judge Roger Ibbotson heard last June how police raided a series of addresses in Bradford and Keighley after suspicious businesses contacted them about letters asking for registration fees.

Khan, of Cambridge Street, Great Horton, Bradford, was sentenced to two and a half years in jail after he and three others admitted charges of fraud and deception.

But Khan, who is still in custody, was brought to Bradford Crown Court today to hear the outcome of proceedings against him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Prosecutor Neil Clark told Judge Ibbotson that discussions between the parties had resulted in £25,000 being agreed as a realisable amount in Khan's case.

Khan will now have to make arrangements for the money to be paid within the next six months or face a further 13 months in jail on top of his current sentence.

Khan was sentenced last year alongside 33-year-old Abbas Shah, of St Margaret's Terrace, Bradford, Parminder Johir, 27, of Farnham Road, Great Horton, and 31-year-old Nosheen Sheridan, of Aberdeen Place, Lidget Green, Bradford.

Shah was sentenced to eight months in jail for his part in the scam while Johir was given a 13-month prison term.

Sheridan was made the subject of an 18-month community order involving supervison and 50 hours' unpaid work.

Shah also appeared before Judge Ibbotson yesterday for his Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, but it was adjourned to a later date so that further documentation could be served.