Customers paid Brisbane businessman $130,000 for food trailers that never came

A Brisbane businessman will have to pay more than $150,000 in fines and compensation after taking deposits but failing to deliver two food trailers to customers, according to the Office of Fair Trading.

John Frederick Waters pleaded guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court to two counts of wrongly accepting payment for goods that he failed to supply.

His business, Ocean Road Queensland, which was based in Coopers Plains, created custom-built food trailers but ceased trading in early 2017.

The OFT charged Mr Waters after he agreed to create two trailers for separate customers between October 2015 and September 2016 and took deposits totalling $132,000.

Mr Waters never delivered the trailers and admitted to using the deposits to keep his business afloat before going bankrupt in June 2017, according to an OFT statement.

Before the matter was heard in court, one consumer was given a partial refund of $3600.

A conviction was recorded following Mr Waters' guilty plea and he was ordered to pay the money within two years or face six months' imprisonment.