A NEWPORT family were deprived of their planned summer holiday after a man conned them out of £7,500, police say.

The tattooed con artist wrote out a cheque for the money on the pretence of buying the Malpas family's Volkswagen Passat with licence plate LX51 BJU.

But on Wedensday the devastated family found that the cheque had bounced.

PC Eddie Evans, the crime and disorder officer for Bettws police, said: "This appears to be a nasty con job on the face of it.

"The car owner was going to use part of the money to take his young children on holiday, but they can't go now.

"People should be extremely wary and never take large sums of money by cheque from anyone they have never met before.

"There are other ways, such as with cash or a banker's draft."

The offender is described as muscular and with a distinctive tattoo of a flower, which appeared to be with a dagger, on his left lower arm.

On his left upper arm he had a banded tattoo around the whole of the arm. He was European in appearance and tanned. The victims describe him as around 35 to 37 years old, with dirty blond hair gelled back.

The offender, who spoke with a local accent and had blue eyes, was wearing a white T-shirt and bleached jeans.

PC Evans said the man was answering an advertisement the family put in a free ads publication.

The vehicle was being offered for £7,895 and the man haggled the family down to £7,500.

PC Evans said: "He wanted to pay by cheque, the family agreed, and they completed the registration document."

He said Barclays bank later told the victim the cheque used was from a stolen cheque book.