A MAN has appeared at court accused of fraud and theft in a £10,000 crime spree across south Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.

Mark Bainbridge faced 15 charges of fraud by false representation, one charge of theft from a shop and one charge of making off without payment when he appeared before Worcester Magistrates Court .

The crimes were alleged to have been committed last year in towns across the Midlands such as Pershore, Evesham, Malvern, Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold and Moreton-in-Marsh.

The 33-year-old is accused of handing over fraudulent cheques worth a total of £1,496 to Ezee PCs in Pershore on March 14 and 15; failing to pay for goods worth £868 by BACS transfer to Adrian Ewart in Broadway, near Evesham, between February 14 and March 8; handing over a fraudulent cheque in Malvern on August 18 to Susan Wathen as payment for goods worth £450; and failing to transfer £1,020 to Nigel Robinson in Broadway on March 10 as payment for goods.

The defendant also allegedly used fraudulent cheques to pay Simply Light, Evesham, for goods worth £93.20 on July 26; to pay Mickleton Laundry for services worth £18.32 on August 1 and to pay Durham House Antiques, Stow-on-the-Wold, for goods worth £495 on August 11.

Bainbridge is also accused of using fraudulent cheques to pay for goods at Haynes, Hanson and Clark, Stow-on-the-Wold, worth £699; to pay Gail Hurt for goods worth £315 in Moreton-on-Marsh on August 15 and to pay Joyce Russell for goods worth £291 in Moreton-on-Marsh on Aug-ust 15.

He is also alleged to have used fraudulent cheques to pay Stratford Limes Hotel for goods and services worth £200 on August 10; to pay Compleat Cookshop, Cirencester, £291 for goods on August 19; to pay Roger Edwards for collectors stamps worth £4,095 in Stoke-on-Trent on April 14; and to pay Outwear, Oxford, £595 for goods on August 16.

The theft of rugs worth £2,451 from Alain Rouveure Galleries, Moreton-in-Marsh, on March 2 last year and making off from the Mount Pleasant Hotel, Malvern, without paying for services worth £394.10 between March 18 and March 20, 2012, were two more charges put to him in court.

Bainbridge, of Wharfside Street, Birmingham, was remanded in custody and will appear at Worcester Crown Court on September 17.