A day of action was held on Wednesday, Operation Rogue Trader, formed part of a week of activities led by trading standards and the police service. The campaign has seen trading standards officers, police officers and members of government agencies working together across the country to crack down on rogue traders and highlight the dangers of consenting to have work carried out by cold callers.

In Shropshire, patrol teams, involving both trading standards and the police, have been on the look-out for offenders and taking action where necessary.

Officers on patrol have this week followed nine specific lines of intelligence, two of which relate to known rogue traders who have operated in Shropshire in the recent past, are being followed up to help combat rogue trader activity in the future and

The campaign is being run by Operation Liberal, the national police distraction burglary intelligence unit, and trading standards. Rogue trading is a growing trend nationally and evidence suggests that a number of distraction burglars have contact with each other and are associated with rogue traders.

Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for trading standards said:

“Tackling rogue traders is a priority for our trading standards team; unscrupulous rogues and distraction burglars can have a devastating impact on people’s lives, and their activities are often linked to a vast network of crime.

“Partnership working is an integral part of tackling the scourge of rogue traders – work that is carried out relentlessly by numerous agencies throughout the year. Initiatives like Operation Rogue Trader and National Rogue Traders Week provide an important opportunity to raise awareness and to empower consumers to say no to cold callers.”

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Edwards, the head of Shropshire CID, said:

“The partnership work with Shropshire trading standards over the past week, demonstrates our commitment to tackling this scourge.

“Rogue traders are brazen, persuasive and unscrupulous people who pretend to be legitimate builders or gardeners. They prey on the elderly and vulnerable, conning people into paying high prices for low quality work.”

He said this week’s extra work carried out by teams of trading standards and police officers in the Shrewsbury, Market Drayton, Wem and Bridgnorth areas, had sent out a clear message that rogue traders would continue to be a prime target for the enforcement agencies. It had also provided reassurance to genuine tradespeople.

“We have highlighted our work during National Rogue Traders Week but it doesn’t stop there. We are working together on this issue the year round.”

Nationally last year’s Operation Rogue Trader saw nearly 300 people arrested, £140,000 worth of property recovered and nearly 9,000 vehicles inspected. A total of 15,585 items of property were recovered and 2,116 traders were stopped and checked. Last year, Consumer Direct received more than 6,000 complaints about uninvited traders, in the Midlands alone.

People should report cases of rogue traders or uninvited doorstep callers to Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06. Anyone with information that would lead to the arrest of any distraction burglar or rogue trader should call the police or Crimestoppers, the national charity, anonymously on 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 in an emergency.