A financial adviser who was jailed for swindling elderly clients out of their savings has been given leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence.

David Weston, of Admirals Close, Hereford, transferred £66,000 into his own accounts by forging signatures to fund a luxury lifestyle including a home extension and foreign holidays, Worcester Crown Court heard.

A jury convicted 45-year-old Weston last September of 27 specimen counts of theft.

He was sent to prison for three-and-a-half years by Judge Michael Mott who described him as an arrogant man who had committed "the grossest breach of professional and human trust" for his own selfish ends.

But Andrew Lockhart, prosecuting, revealed in court yesterday that Weston's case will be heard by the Court of Appeal in London on a date to be fixed.

Another hearing has been fixed before Judge Mott on Tuesday, August 17 when Weston's assets may be confiscated, depending on the outcome of the appeal.

Weston, the former boss of Powell Price and Co (Hereford) Ltd, was alleged to have carried out the scam between 1991 and 1998.

The jury heard that his main victims were sisters Mary and Violet Pugh who ran a smallholding at their home in Burley Gate, near Bromyard.

They were unworldly and inseparable, living a hermit-style existence and only venturing out to church and market. They owned a clapped-out tractor and a black and white TV.

At the time of conviction, Judge Mott praised a meticulous and conscientious investigation by West Mercia Police.