Rogue traders out and about in town

DODGY compost sellers have been going door to door in Thelwall offering their services to pensioners, trading standards is warning.
One incident saw two men offering to lay compost in the garden of a 74-year-old woman who agreed to the work despite not being given a price first.
A spokesman for Warrington Trading Standards said: “Once the job was finished the trader asked for £320 saying 62 bags had been laid at £3.50 per bag.
“Although shocked at the price the woman felt pressured to pay and wrote a cheque for the full amount.”
The men are described as being smartly dressed wearing green uniforms with ‘Garden Services’ printed on the back.
The younger man is thought to have very short hair and a ruddy complexion.
Both men had Warrington accents and drove a white low loader type vehicle with no visible markings.
A second incident saw three men claiming to be from the council cold calling residents offering compost at £2.99 per bag.
They were wearing green jumpers printed with the name ‘Blakes’ and were driving a very dark blue transit van.
The spokesman added: “Please take great care with people offering to sell you goods at your door.
“You may struggle to find them again if there are problems with the goods they sell or the work they do and you can end up paying more than you thought you had agreed to.”
Anyone falling victim to this sort of crime should call police on 0845 4580000.

(Reproduced from thisischeshire.co.uk 27th October)

GARDIEN TIP: This is slightly different from the normal sort of problem we deal with, but we feel it is important enough to highlight as part of our campaign to reduce garden crime.