A RAIL fare dodger has been ordered to pay more than £630 after he failed to buy a ticket that would have cost just £8.90.

Alex Jason, who lives in Masey Mews, London, appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court charged with travelling on a railway without having previously paid for a fare of £8.90 and with intent to avoid payment.

The 19-year-old was travelling between Andover and Basingstoke on South West Trains on February 5 this year.

The verdict was proved in absence and Jason was ordered to pay a total of of £632.90.

That included a £440 fine, compensation of £8.90, a victim surcharge of £44, plus costs of £140.