A prolific conman nicknamed Champagne Charlie – who was arrested after a police officer spotted him getting off her bus – has admitted fraud.

John Clugston, 64, honed his luxury wine scam to perfection in a fraud career stretching back almost four decades.

Police last week launched an appeal to trace him after he conned businesses in Kingston and elsewhere out of more than £18,000 over a number of months.

He posed as a businessman and visited offices, claiming to have bottles of Bollinger Champagne left over from a work function that he would sell on at a discount price.

However, once they handed over the money, usually £1,000 to £1,500, he said he would leave to get the champagne, but never returned.

Detective Constable Anna Petherbridge, from Westminster CID, was travelling into work on Tuesday when she spotted Clugston on a bus at Clapham Junction and arrested him on the spot.

She said: “After all these days and weeks of trying to track him down, I couldn’t believe it when I saw him getting off the bus.

“I’m really pleased for all those concerned as he has used this trick time and again to fool unsuspecting victims across London and has managed to con people out of a great deal of money.”

Clugston, of no fixed abode and from west Sussex, admitted six counts of fraud by misrepresentation at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

A further 23 offences will be taken into account when he is sentenced at a date to be confirmed. Police believe he also targeted businesses in Southwark, Westminster, Lambeth, Camden,Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham and the City.

Clugston has received 19 convictions for 74 counts of fraud between 1972 and 2008. Before his arrest, DC Petherbridge described him as “friendly and engaging in his manner”, giving victims little cause for concern.