ROGUE traders are continuing to prey on elderly and vulnerable residents in Poole.

Borough of Poole’s environmental and consumer protection services is urging residents to be on their guard, having received reports of some rogue traders offering over-priced, shoddy services door-to-door such as gardening, roofing and driveway repairs.

Rogue traders can turn up on anyone’s doorstep, in any area and no-one is immune from their attentions.

However it is not always easy to spot the rogues as some use glossy, professional looking flyers with seemingly proper addresses, website details, email addresses and telephone numbers that only later turn out to be false or just a message taking service.

Others use legitimate looking contracts but these do not contain correct information or cancellation rights.

“The best thing householders can do is simply never to get into any sort of business with traders who call on you uninvited selling their goods or services,” said Andy Shimmen, trading standards officer.

“They can often be very persuasive or aggressive to encourage people into making hasty decisions but don’t rush into anything, just politely decline their offer no matter how good it might seem to start with.”

Cllr Xena Dion, cabinet portfolio holder for the environment said: “Rogue traders will take advantage of any situation, including the recent bad weather we have been experiencing.

“Residents must be very careful if approached on your doorstep by traders offering roof repairs that may not be needed.

“It’s not unknown for rogues to carry broken tiles around with them to convince householders they need their roof repaired.

“Don’t agree to anything, get quotes from established businesses and don’t forget you can find trustworthy, reliable tradespeople who have been visited and pre-approved by trading standards on the Buy With Confidence scheme.”

For more information visit boroughofpoole.com/buywithconfidence.

• Have you been affected by a door-to-door scam? Call the Daily Echo newsdesk on 01202 411297 or email newsdesk@bournemouthecho.co.uk

Victims

A 75-YEAR-OLD woman from Broadstone was the victim of two rogue traders within two months, handing over £1,750 for shoddy work.

She was charged £950 to have work done to a block paving drive, removing a hedge and cleaning the rear patio.

But she was not happy with the work and when another trader came along and offered to sort out her drive she handed over £800 to him.

Poole trading standards officers are investigating this case, where there were glossy leaflets but a lack of paperwork and difficulty in tracking down the traders.

• A woman in her early 80s in the Lilliput area who had suffered a stroke was cold called by five men offering to do some gardening. For one-and-a-half hours work she was charged £500.

One stayed with her in the house all the time while others did some work which included chopping down a tree she did not want removed. If traders turn up and will not go away when asked, or if a resident feels intimidated, the advice is to call 999.

• A common scam is when the Southern Gas Network is working in an area and a man in a van turns up and says he’s “with that lot down the road” and offers to cover a drive with left-over materials.

For a poor quality job a resident will be charged around £1,000.

The company says this happens a lot in areas where they are working but has absolutely nothing to do with them