COWBOY traders are being targeted in Ryton-on-Dunsmore.
A new ‘No Rogue Trader Zone’ is to be launched in the village under a scheme operated by Warwickshire Trading Standards and supported by Warwickshire Police, after officers identified a number of rogue trader ‘hotspots’.
Villagers have complained of nuisance doorstep sellers who have been aggressive, intimidating and intrusive.
One resident said a trader broke her gate to try and enter via patio doors when she refused to open her front door. Another con artist cut down trees in a resident’s garden despite being asked not to, and stole ladders.
Trading standards officers will issue residents with No Rogue Trader door and window stickers and information booklets advising how to stay safe from scam traders.
Street signs will also go up to warn rip-off merchants they will be reported if they try to trade in the area.
County community safety spokesman Coun Howard Roberts said: “Rogue traders are a menace, pressurising residents to have work carried out on their homes and gardens that is often unnecessary and always overpriced and poorly carried out.
“No Rogue Trader Zones have proved very successful in deterring rogue traders and bogus callers where they have been established across the county. I’m delighted that a No Rogue Trader Zone is now being launched in Ryton-on-Dunsmore to help protect often very vulnerable and elderly residents from doorstep crime.”
