Pensioners were quick to ring the Oxford Mail's special "cowboy builder" hotline to tell of their nightmare dealings with conmen.

One of the first callers was Christopher Green, 80, of Crescent Road, Cowley, Oxford, who told of his narrow escape from conmen.

It started when men arrived in a van, told him he needed new roof tiles and offered to give him a free estimate.

They then climbed up on his roof and began pulling off tiles - managing to knock down part of his chimney in the process. They said the work would cost £400 and claimed the whole roof needed refelting.

Mr Green became worried and called his son and daughter who came round and alerted the police.

He said: "They worried me so I called my son. They tramped about on the roof and said this and that needed doing.

"They had five vans round here. He wanted to take the roof off. I had a lucky escape because I didn't give them any money. But I might have, had my son not come round."

But one Headington pensioner, who did not want to be named, was not so lucky. She paid £1,200 for work on her driveway. Three men escorted her to the bank and made her take out the sum in cash.

The work on her drive was never completed.

Another reader told us how five neighbours in Vicarage Road, south Oxford, were left with shoddy workmanship on their guttering but the work on her own home appeared to be sound.

Wendy Eaton, 56, said she rang the firm after becoming suspicious when she heard of her neighbours' complaints. She was greeted with abuse. She said: "When I phoned the mobile phone number they gave me, someone swore at me. And when I called back the number was disconnected. I just want to warn people."

Mrs Eaton claimed it looked as if the men did not know what they were doing.

"I will be getting my guttering checked out. My neighbour was conned and an old couple had water pouring in where they had guttering done. I'm sure it would have happened to me had I not watched what they were doing." Her neighbour paid £2,000 for PVC cladding and loft lining which blew down overnight. They did not put up any scaffolding and had ladders propped up across the road with cars driving beneath.

Trading Standards Officer Brian Yendole said: "We do try to get the message out to people to be aware of this but it is very difficult." *Here are some of the things the conmen may say:

*"Congratulations. You've won a prize. If you could just sign here for it.."

*"I noticed you've got a few loose tiles on your roof.."

*"There have been a lot of burglaries in the area recently.."

*"This cut-price special offer is only available if you sign today.."

*"I'm doing a survey.." If someone claims to work for the council, charity, social services, or gas company, they should be able to show you proof.

Remember doorstep sellers are trained to get people to buy and can be extremely persuasive.

Once they get into your house, they will not give up easily. *Whatever you do, don't... *ask a doorstep seller to call unless you are sure you want to buy

*let a caller into your home if you are at all suspicious of them

*agree to buy anything until you have checked prices elsewhere

*let the seller push you into making a snap decision

*pay a deposit unless you are sure you want to buy *agree to have work done on your house without getting a second opinion

*let persuasive salesmen convince you to buy things you don't need

listen to scare stories. They are usually nonsense. *Know your rights *IF the goods or services were more than £35 you generally have seven days to cancel the contract

*By law the seller must give you written details of your right to cancel. There are some exceptions to this rule

*Failure to do this is a criminal offence and the contract cannot be enforced against you

*If you cancel the contract, you can get your money back. If you have already received certain goods, like perishables, or services have already been carried out, like home improvements, then you will have to pay for these, despite having cancelled the contract *If you cancel the contract and goods have already been supplied, the seller must collect them

*If you contact a company yourself, you have no legal right to change your mind and cancel the contract once you have agreed to buy, unless - the contract says you can cancel, or you bought the goods or services on credit, then you have five days to cancel.

From Doorstep Selling - Know Where You Stand. Department of Trade and Industry. *How to deal with doorstep sellers *Fix a security chain to your door and use it every time someone calls

*If in doubt just say "No thank you" and close the door.

*Find out the name and address of the seller's company

*Ask yourself:

Do I need this?

Can I afford it?

Could I get it cheaper elsewhere? Do I know and trust the seller?

*Ask the seller what will happen if you change your mind. In most cases you will have a seven-day "cooling off" period during which you can cancel the contract

*Ask for more time if you're not sure

*Pay by credit card for goods or services costing more than £100. The credit card company will give you some protection

*Get a receipt with the name, address and telephone number of the company on it.

Story date: Wednesday 03 November

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.