Friday 23rd May 2008
(ref:
155/2008 )
A major operation targeting rogue traders coming into Wigan has been hailed as a huge success by council Trading Standards chiefs.
Council officers joined forces with a whole host of other agencies, including police, HM Customs and Excise, the Environment Agency and the Department of Works and Pension as part of the borough-wide operation on Tuesday (May 20).
The aim was to target those criminal who travel into the borough to prey on older and vulnerable people by offering poor and over-priced building, path surfacing and landscaping work.
The council’s Trading Standards and Fly-tipping Enforcement teams joined colleagues at a strategically-placed check-point on Mosley Common Road, routinely stopping commercial vehicle and other drivers and carrying out a number of checks.
At the same time more council and police officers toured estates across the borough looking for teams of rogue traders already at work on residents’ homes, gardens and driveways.
Wigan’s Chief Trading Standards Officer Julie Middlehurst says:
“This operation was part of a national clampdown on rogue traders. It is a fact that rogue traders often target our most vulnerable residents and some are also involved in distraction burglaries where the intention is to trick their way into to your home to steal from you.
“We also wanted to reassure honest traders in the borough who suffer as a result of these rogues.”
During the day officers stopped and spoke to 68 traders and inspected their vehicles. From this number, eight suspected rogue traders were identified; some had travelled from Rochdale, Blackburn and Stoke on Trent.
Checks on the safety and roadworthiness of vehicles resulted in 17 vehicles being taken off the road, five of these immediately.
The Department of Work and Pensions spoke to 62 of those stopped, 13 of whom are now being investigated for possible benefit fraud.
The Environment Agency is investigating a number of traders who were carrying controlled waste without a licence.
A further 49 drivers received fines for a number of offences including driving without insurance, whilst two were arrested for driving while disqualified.
“It was a great success,” Julie says. “We think we have once again sent the message to the rogue traders that they are not welcome in our borough and if they do come to Wigan to try and con people, there’s a good chance they will be caught.
“All the information we gathered as part of the day will go into the police’s rogue trader database for use in future operations of this type.
“Meanwhile our message to the public remains the same; don’t be enticed into agreeing to have any work done by someone who turns up at your door just because it seems cheap.
“The best way to get rid of rogue traders is to not give them any business. If you really need work doing on your home make sure you get a number of quotations from reputable companies or a recommendation from someone who has used their services in the past.”
- Members of the public can report a rogue trader to Consumer Direct by calling 08454 04 05 06 (calls charged at local rate) or to Greater Manchester Police on 0161 872 5050.
Notes to editors
- For more information contact Phil Green at Wigan Council’s Press Office on 01942 827369.
