Rogue traders feel long arm of the law

Humberside Police is working with all four Humber councils to drive down doorstep crime, when unscrupulous cold callers prey on vulnerable and elderly people by charging extortionate rates for unnecessary and sub-standard work.

The initiative is being led by the national police distraction burglary intelligence unit, and will see intelligence gathering and arrests of offenders.

It also aims to raise awareness of the problem and reassure those who may be targeted.

Stuart Donald, Assistant Chief Constable (Operations), said: “Operation Rogue Trader gives Humberside Police an opportunity to arrest people who target vulnerable members of our communities, especially the elderly.

“This sort of crime goes largely unreported. Nationally, as few as one in 10 offences are estimated to be reported, and so it is not clear exactly how many offences are being committed but we would encourage members of the public to contact police and report any experiences of rogue traders to us so that we can work to combat them.

“I would like to reassure the local community we will not tolerate doorstep crime such as this and will work together with our partners in trading standards to continue to tackle it.”

There have been scores of complaints across the region from victims, some of whom are revisited by offenders as they are viewed as an easy target.

Councils have already taken steps to alleviate the problem by setting up cold calling control zones - warning rogue traders to stay away - in some of the worst affected areas. There are 160 zones in the East Riding and 57 in North East Lincolnshire.

In the East Riding there were 95 complaints about doorstep traders in just over a month this summer.