A 47-year-old man who used a Borders woman's bank cards to run up a £350 hotel bill will be sentenced next month.

Duncan Flett - who was described as an "old-fashioned conman" - met up with the woman on a dating agency and visited her at her Lauder home in November.

But while he was there he came across two Bank of Scotland cards and used  them to pay bills at four hotels in Edinburgh.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser told Jedburgh Sheriff Court that Flett - who has an address in Ancrum Court, Dundee, - had an extensive list of previous convictions.

Flett pleaded guilty to a charge of forming a fraudulent scheme to pay the hotel bills using bank cards without the owner's knowledge or consent.

Defence lawyer Colin Severin admitted his client had used the cards to fuel his alcohol habit.

He added that prison had not been a deterrent for Flett and asked that an alternative sentence be imposed to help tackle his problems.

Sheriff Peter Paterson said he was "deeply sceptical" and in his view Flett was "an old fashioned conman"  taking advantage of people.

However he accepted it had been a long time since he had received a community-based disposal.

Sentence was deferred until August 12 for the production of a Criminal Justice Social Work Report and a Restriction of Liberty Order assessment.

Flett was released on bail with the special condition he needs to sign on at a police sdtation in Dundee on a daily basis.