Day of Action Against Rogue Traders!
Warwickshire witnessed a ‘Day of Action’ on Wednesday 26th April, as Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Officers targeted doorstep criminals and rogue traders across the County.
‘Operation Rogue Trader’ saw the Service work in partnership with Warwickshire Police, The Dept. for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs and local authority benefit fraud officers.
The enforcement action taken in Warwickshire was mirrored in many other areas of the Country as officers took to the streets to check out traders working on residents homes.
Trading Standards Officers approached 22 traders on the day and found most to be working legitimately. However in a minority of cases some potential criminal offences were identified. Officers were interested in traders carrying out a range of work on the homes of Warwickshire residents, including tarmacing, gardening or roofing jobs.
‘Operation Rogue Trader’ is part of ‘Operation Liberal’, which was formed in 1998 to tackle offences of bogus callers and distraction burglary.
Mark Ryder, Head of Warwickshire Trading Standards said:
“This day of action has given us the opportunity to send a clear message to rogue traders that we are and will continue to be proactive in targeting them whenever and where ever they operate. We are committed to protecting consumers and legitimate businesses from doorstep criminals”
Warwickshire Trading Standards is at the forefront of the battle against doorstep crime in the County and has taken a number of measures to help protect consumers and legitimate businesses, including: responding quickly when ever possible to consumers who have rogue traders on their doorstep; using their powers to stop rogue traders breaching the law; sharing intelligence with partner agencies to identify and target criminal traders; establishing an email system to cascade warnings of rogue trader activities to Neighbourhood Watch groups, Residents Associations and Older People’s Groups etc., and educating consumers about what then can do avoid becoming victims of rogue trader crime.
Residents can help protect themselves by:
Keeping doors locked at all times.
Using a spy hole or security chain to check who is at the door.
Our best advice would be that if you don’t want to speak to the person, don’t open your door to them. It can be hard to distinguish the good traders from the cowboys; it might be easier to keep the door closed. Do not allow uninvited callers into your home.