FOOTBALL card cheat Bernard Seaborn was well offside with his collecting ruse.

Armed with the cards and claiming to be raising money for two under 16's soccer sides, the 61-year-old conned people out of money.

However, the ruse came to an end when someone reported Seaborn to the police as he collected cash in Bury.

In fact while the officers were questioning Seaborn on the street, one of his victims came up and demanded back the £2 they had paid over earlier.

Prosecuting, Mr Mark Humphries, said that Seaborn, from Harvey Longworth Court, Crawshawbooth, Rossendale, told would-be punters that he was selling the cards for Bury Rangers and the Whitefield Colts, which turned out to be totally untrue.

To add to his authenticity he even wore a three-quarter length soccer type coat and tracksuit bottoms, hinting that he was involved in the coaching side of the game.

In court Seaborn pleaded guilty to going equipped to cheat.

On his behalf it was said that at the time of the offences, he had been made homeless and his life generally was in a state of turmoil.

Seaborn was made the subject of a 12-month community rehabilitation order with a condition to attend a Think First programme. In addition there were court costs of £116.