Two Romanians arrested as they disembarked from a ferry at Pembroke have been jailed for being involved in scams to steal card details from ATM cash machines.

Daniel Munteanu and Mihai Cristea, both aged 26, admitted possessing articles in the use of frauds.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Border Agency officers searched a Ford Mondeo being driven by Munteanu off the Rosslare to Pembroke ferry on June 9.

They found skimming devices had been hidden in the soft furnishings of the car and even in the roof lining.

Ieaun Rees, prosecuting, said Munteanu volunteered that the devices belonged to him and that he had been paid £300 to drive them from Dublin to London.

At that stage, Cristea was 'left out' of the investigation, but a check revealed he was wanted in Yorkshire for an identical offence. A skimming device bearing his fingerprints had been fitted to an ATM outside a supermarket in Huddersfield.

The devices included pin-hole cameras that could film users of ATM machines as they entered their pin numbers. The cards would be cloned later, he added.

The court heard that both Munteanu and Cristea had a previous conviction for an identical offence.

Ian Wright, representing both defendants, said they were hard working men with wives and children back home in Romania.

Judge Keith Thomas said there was no doubt that the intention was to defraud others. Such offending, he said, was a significant problem and caused great hardship to the victims.

Both men, from Woolwich in London, were jailed for eight months. Munteanu was also ordered to pay £900 in court costs as his offending came under new legislation.