A Somerset couple who were jailed for seven and a half years for tax fraud have now been told they must pay almost £900,000 or serve a further three and a half years in prison.

Samuel Jones and his wife Lorraine Jones were found guilty of failing to pay income tax, NICs and VAT for over a decade, following an HMRC investigation into their tarmac business.

HMRC found the couple had £1.4m in the bank, a fleet of high-performance cars and a £1.6m property portfolio. The pair said their money had come from inheritance and the proceeds of gambling.

An earlier court case found them both guilty of fraud, and in a subsequent hearing last week, the husband and wife were each ordered to pay £447,496 within six months or serve an additional three and a half years in jail. They were also jointly ordered to pay costs totalling £49,724.

Simon De Kayne, HMRC assistant director of criminal investigation, said: 'Samuel and Lorraine Jones had no hesitation in cheating their way to a lavish lifestyle, deliberately evading their tax liabilities as they did so. Similarly, HMRC had no hesitation in pursuing them for the proceeds of their crime to ensure that those who cheat do not enjoy their ill-gotten gains.'