A CRACKDOWN on rogue traders has saved Oxfordshire residents nearly £30,000 in just a week, trading standards said last night.

Police and trading standards officers made seven arrests, seized three vehicles and issued six written warnings during the special week-long campaign.

Twenty-five police and five trading standards officers drove around every district in the county looking for rogue traders targeting vulnerable and elderly people.

They searched for rogue traders already known to them as well as new faces, stopping and chatting with workers from 54 different firms.

Trading standards’ doorstep crime team leader Martin Woodley said: “This has been a very useful operation, where both police and trading standards have obtained vital information, and a lot of people have seen us out there doing real work, which will also be a deterrent to would-be criminals.”

Trading standards enforcement officer Charlotte Walton said: “We were looking for jobs like roofing, guttering, driveways and gardening – they choose something on the outside of the house that they can spot easily.

“They won’t look professional, they will be dressed in fairly everyday clothes and often don’t have a van that would draw attention to them. They also won’t have safety equipment.”

One of their arrests was a 49-year-old in Kennington on Wednesday.

Officers questioned him and his customer and said he initially gave a quote of £300 for roof repairs, which later shot up to £2,000.

The investigation then led them to an 87-year-old man who had gardening work done by the same suspect earlier in the day.

Mr Woodley said the suspect had offered a low price for the work but was believed not to have insurance or the right licence.

And on Tuesday, trading standards officers helped a 55-year-old woman in Jericho, Oxford, who said she felt intimidated by builders repairing her roof.

After initially giving her a quote of £5,000, officers said the builders changed that to £25,000 once they started work.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “I am very grateful.

“They made me feel a lot more confident about how to handle the situation when I was feeling vulnerable and under pressure.”

Jane Thomas, 72, of Wallingford was a victim of rogue builders in 2011. She said: “If the police are out looking for people it is a good thing.”

In an operation last October, officers checked 51 businesses, issued three written warnings, made three arrests, and saved a man from spending £7,500 on a job to make his porch roof slanted.

ACTION TAKEN DURING THE OPERATION

  • Tuesday, April 16, North Oxon: Two known rogue traders arrested on suspicion of burglary. The suspects were stopped because their vehicles were on the officers’ ‘hit list’, and were found to be driving a stolen car with a stolen licence plate. They have been released on bail.
  • Thursday, April 18, South Oxon: Two men from Reading were arrested while using a tow rope to pull up metal railings from the side of the road with their van. They were later released with a caution.
  • Friday, April 19, Oxford: Two men, known doorstep criminals from Oxford, were found with suspected stolen bikes in the back of their van, and released on bail pending a full investigation.
  • Monday, April 22, West Oxon: In Milton-under-Wychwood, three men were caught trying to charge a 56-year-old woman £1,500 for washing moss off her roof – a job which officers said should have cost a few hundred pounds. The trio were given written trading standards warnings, but after background checks were carried out, one man was found to be driving without a licence or insurance, and his van was confiscated to be crushed.
  • Tuesday, April 23, Oxford: Two men from Stratford-upon-Avon were stopped from charging a woman in Jericho £25,000 for repair work to her roof. They will be issued with trading standards warnings.
  • Wednesday, April 24, Vale of White Horse: One 49-year-old man in Kennington was arrested on suspicion of fraud for allegedly overcharging a customer for repair work to his roof, which they quoted as costing £2,000. He was also allegedly found to be doing tree work without the proper paperwork, for which he charged £260. He has been released on police bail pending a full investigation.