A businessman accused both of fraud and lying to police has begun giving evidence in his defence.

Darren Connell, 38, faces three charges which relate to alleged illegal conduct going back to 2012, and has gone on trial.

Connell has pleaded not guilty to the theft of a Ford Transit van he had hired from Hertz that year to use in the courier business he ran. In addition he denies fraudulently making a false representation to his insurer that the vehicle had been stolen and perverting the course of justice by reporting the theft to police, and stating he did not know where the van was.

A jury at Carlisle Crown Court has heard police visited Connell, of Liddle Road, Longtown, at his home in April, 2012. They asked about the Transit van, which had been seen close to where another vehicle was found burnt out.

Connell said the van was being used at the time by one of his employees. Police were then told it had been stolen from outside the worker's Carlisle home.

Connell confirmed the theft in a police statement. He initially told his insurer the vehicle was taken from a farm yard he used at Sark Tower Farm, Canonbie - but then provided a written account to state it was, in fact, stolen from Carlisle.

The van was never traced.

Police swooped on Sark Tower Farm in August, 2014. Three of the missing van's doors, a front panel and an exhaust box were located in a container. An experienced and highly qualified police vehicle examiner confirmed these matched the "stolen" Transit.

Jurors heard that the officer made other discoveries. These included a Honda quad bike, an engine fitted in another Ford Transit and a JCB telehandler. All had previously been reported stolen.

Giving evidence, Connell confirmed that one of his employees had told him the van was stolen.

"When did you next see the van in question," he was asked by his lawyer, Paul Tweddle.

"We have never seen it," Connell replied.

Related: North Cumbrian man denies insurance fraud

He "just assumed" the parts matching the missing van were "spare", and had innocently found their way into a container which housed a large amount of other equipment.

Connell agreed he had given a "false and misleading" account to the insurer by saying the van was stolen from Canonbie.

"I didn't know whether the van would be insured, being outside somebody's house. (So) I told them it went from the yard," he said by way of explanation.

The trial continues.