A discount furniture store boss has been jailed for a scam that cheated UK taxpayers out of more than £150,000.

Anthony Whitehead, 60, of Bostock Hall in Middlewich, Cheshire, and owner of Warehouse Prestwich, lied on his tax returns to ensure that he paid almost no VAT, despite his business sales being £2,229,197.

Mr Whitehead was caught after HMRC officers analysed his company records and found that he had dishonestly declared identical sales and purchases on his VAT returns between May 2011 and August 2016, paying just £205 in VAT over five years.

Tim Atkins, assistant director, fraud investigation servi...