A church pastor who went on the run after defrauding almost £250,000 from worshippers, family members and friends has been arrested in South Africa more than a year after he fled the UK.

Bruce Scott, who lived in Hazlemere, was found in Johannesburg and has now been detained in custody a year after he absconded on the day he was due to be sentenced after being convicted of 10 counts of fraud and deception.

The 51-year-old preacher went missing on January 17 last year after he had been warned to expect a jail sentence after being found guilty of a 14-year swindle, along with his wife Belinda.

On the day he fled the country his wife had turned up at Reading Crown Court after not seeing her husband since he left their home to go to work that morning.

She was given a conditional discharge by Judge Richard Parkes, who said she had “limited culpability” in the frauds committed by her “forceful” husband.

During a six-week trial, a jury heard Mr Scott swindled money from individuals and businesses he met through work and his church, and misused it.

He convinced his victims to part with thousands of pounds in cash in return for business loans, which were never repaid by the South African couple.

Nine victims, including a private school, were owed a whopping total of £248,000 pounds, between 1998 and 2012.

One woman handed them £41,000 pounds and ended up losing her home in South Africa as a result of their illicit actions.

The father-of-four had been an Evangelical preacher in America in the early 2000s before going on to become pastor at the Covenant Church of the Cross in Farnham Common.

Thames Valley Police have confirmed an extradition process is currently ongoing.