Crackdown warning for rogue doorstep traders

AN EXTENDED round-up of rogue traders is being carried out this week in North Yorkshire as part of a national purge on doorstep crime.

Yesterday saw a national day of action against those who prey on vulnerable people in their homes involving police forces across the country including South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Humberside Police, plus York City Trading Standards.

As well as taking part in the initiative, however, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Police opted for a crackdown which began on Monday and will continue today.

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Operation Rogue Trader has targeted rogue builders and roofers as well as conmen who claim to lay driveways or carry out garden landscaping. Clare Wood, executive member for North Yorkshire Trading Standards, explained why they had opted for an extended scheme.

"We usually do that because we know one day of action is not sufficient and there is an influx of this type of crime at the moment."

Scams employed by rogue traders often include bullying customers and making them pay through the nose for unnecessary or shoddy services, as well as sometimes working hand in glove with burglars.

Coun Wood said: "This concerted, high-profile action will do much to raise awareness of how people can report any suspicions they have regarding rogue traders operating in their area.

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"But the rogues and conmen who bring despair and misery to the lives of so many in North Yorkshire should know that it is not just during Operation Rogue Trader that they will be under the spotlight.

"Trading standards professionals, jointly with police and local communities, are working day in and day out in our determination to leave no hiding place for these criminals."

Det Insp Steve Smith, of York CID, who has co-ordinated the North Yorkshire response, said: "Such offences are often accompanied by thefts from victim's homes. The effect their actions can have is to devastate people's lives."

n Earlier this year, rogue builder Darryl Glynn, 45, of Carr Street, Selby, North Yorkshire, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after conning customers, including several from Leeds, out of nearly 55,000.