Operation Rogue Trader, which ran from Monday to Friday is a country-wide initiative aimed at raising awareness of unscrupulous traders who cold call on victims – usually the elderly – and overcharge for unsatisfactory goods or services.
Officers and police community support officers, supported by members of the Special Constabulary, have been raising awareness through high visibility patrols delivering leaflets door to door, in particular to sheltered housing schemes, warning residents of the steps they can take to ensure they do not fall victim to rogue traders.
Yesterday, an operation at Craven Arms, on the Shropshire involved vehicles of interest being directed from various sites including Corvedale Road, Clun Road and A49 to the rear of the fire station where police were waiting with Customs & Excise, VOSA, and Trading Standards.
One hundred vehicles were examined, four of which were seized for no insurance or driving license.
Thirteen vehicles were found to have problems such as defective tyres, insecure loads, obscured views, or non-standard number plates. Two vehicles were served with prohibition notices requiring rectification work to be done and seven drivers were reported for summons.
Two drivers were dealt with for driving license offences, two for no insurance, three for no MOT, and four for using mobile phones.
A scrap metal collector was thoroughly checked to ensure he was displaying licenses for Shropshire and Wolverhampton, and his scrap collection record was scrutinised by trading standards officers to ensure the items on board had been properly noted in terms of their description and the location they had been collected from.
On Tuesday suspected rogue traders called at the home of an elderly Albrighton woman saying they were there to clean out her gutters. They also offered to cut down a large tree. A neighbour overheard voices and – knowing the resident was vulnerable – intervened and asked them to leave.
Officers attended and carried out house to house enquiries which resulted in good descriptions being obtained and details were passed to trading standards for observations.
Other recent cases being dealt with by police included a householder in Telford accepting a quote for his house to be painted and guttering cleared for £400. The deal was sealed with a handshake and no written quote was provided or any contract signed, and when the job was done the trader demanded £1,400. Police attended for reassurance and trading standards are investigating.
In Shrewsbury a woman in her 50s asked a handyman who had previously done some jobs for her to a quote to do some work in the garden. She came home one day to find him in her garden doing the work. He charged £400, which the woman felt was over the odds for laying two slabs and moving some rubbish. She refused to pay but felt intimidated by the man as he kept coming to her house and driving by. Police told the man not to call round again.
A woman in her 70s, also from Shrewsbury, had paid £2,750 for a small amount of work in her garden, and on another occasion had paid £2,000 for clearing her overgrown garden after being cold called. Neither of the incidents were reported at the time, and only came to light after being disclosed to a neighbour. Her neighbours are now looking out for her and are going to report anything suspicious.
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