Category: Alerts

Trading Standards Alert – Rogue Traders in Selsdon

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Rogue Traders in Selsdon – February 2024
We have been made aware that Rogue Traders are cold calling in the Selsdon area. They are driving a White Ford Transit van in company with a White Volkswagen Tiguan.

They are telling residents they require roofing or guttering work but actually causing the damage themselves. In some cases they are just asking for money. They are targeting older residents.

Please DO NOT engage or use the services of anyone who cold calls at your door asking if you want work done or telling you that you have a problem.
Please call police on 999 if they try to force you to have work done or put ladders up to your roof without your express permission.

Please keep an eye out for your neighbours and report anything suspicious. Police are currently investigating these recent frauds.

If you require a trader, please look at the following Approved Trader Schemes:

Trust Mark
www.trustmark.org.uk/find-a-tradesman
0333 555 1234

Buy With Confidence
www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk
01392 383 430

Which? Trusted Traders
http://trustedtraders.which.co.uk/
0117 405 4689

ALWAYS get several quotes in writing from several traders before having any work done. Ensure it includes a breakdown of costs of labour and materials.

Ensure you have time to think about the quote before you allow them to start any work. If they attempt to start work without permission, call the police as they could be causing criminal damage to your home.

If you have been scammed or duped into contracting with a business or a trader and parting with money, please report to Citizens Advice Consumer Advice Line on 0808 223 1133 or go to the following website to report online:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/

 

Shirley North Safer Neighbourhood Team – January 2024 Newsletter

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Please note that there is no exact location for the street briefings on The Glade and Ashburton Playing Fields.

The street briefing on the Glade will consist of officers patrolling along the road and stopping to speak to anyone that wishes to.

The street briefing in Ashburton Playing Fields will be a patrol through the main footpath which starts at the end of Woodmere Avenue and runs towards the play park and onto Stroud Green Gardens and again speaking to anyone that wishes to chat with officers.

There is always a small possibility that these events get postponed if an emergency situation arises but most of the time the events take place as advertised.

Email: SNMailbox.ShirleyNorthSNT@met.police.uk
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Shirley North Ward – Operation Zoedone

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South Area Basic Command Unit (BCU) officers target mobile phone robbers across Croydon and Sutton

A South Area BCU operation from 8 to 14 January, targeting offenders along the Purley and Wallington border of Sutton and Croydon, has resulted in 11 arrests in the robbery of mobile phones belonging to school students, zero reporting of further such offences in the area since the operation, and positive feedback from internal and external partners and the local community.


The operation was in response to an increase in mobile phone robberies since October 2023, where offenders particularly targeted students who travelled by bus to and from school.

Police became aware of the phone robberies not only from monitoring crime reports but also from listening to the local communities who had voiced their concerns and supplied invaluable information about the offences.

Using precision-based intelligence, officers researched historical robberies in the relevant wards and produced a detailed crime picture. They identified that the offences took place at about school travel times and in and around bus stops in the locations of Purley and Woodcote, Purley Oaks, South Wallington, South Beddington, and Roundshaw.

Intelligence also showed that offenders typically were males between 14 and 17 years of age, operating in teams of two to three members, wearing Balaclavas and surgical facemasks to hide their faces.

Officers also knew that some offenders used public transport to travel to and from robberies. The Safer Transport Team officers were able to provide specialist knowledge about bus-enabled crime. The operation was put into practice to coincide with students returning school after Christmas, as they would be likely to be in possession of new and desirable phones.

Croydon and Sutton Safer Neighbourhood Teams and South Area Safer Transport Team, joined forces under Operation Zoedone to tackle this crime.

The week of action was supported by Schools officers, Mounted Branch, Territorial Support Group, and the Dog Support Unit. Officers and policing resources were deployed around schools, town centres and transport hubs to deter and disrupt organised mobile phone robbers targeting students for their mobile phones.

Uniformed officers were supported by plain-clothes officers across the tasking area, and the South Area Robbery team were deployed to assist with any live robbery incidents.

Four males working together who robbed pupils of their phones on two occasions, were tracked on CCTV, caught and arrested; two other males were caught trying to hide from police and were found in possession of stolen mobile phone paraphernalia and arrested; and five males were identified and arrested due to extensive secondary investigation for previously reported offences.

Prolific offenders were served community protection notices to deter them from future offending.

Officers were deployed to hotspot areas and targeted several known suspects and cleared the area of further robberies through persistent high vis-patrolling of the hotspot robbery areas. Schools officers attended school assemblies to provide crime prevention advice, while uniformed officers spoke to students on how to keep themselves and their possessions safe.

South Area BCU will continue Operation Zoedone to deter and disrupt crime in the area through Community protection Warnings and enforcement and intervention when needed by the local Safer Neighbourhood and School officers.

Croydon Trading Standards – An Ill Wind Blows Nobody Good

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Residents will be quite aware of the recent bad weather, of which Storm Henk was the latest in a series of weather events. Croydon may not have suffered the widespread flooding which has hit large parts of the country, but evidence of the wind was widespread with fallen branches, fence panels and some damage to houses.

Trading Standards are urging householders, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, to be on their guard for rogue traders who might try to take advantage of any damage to property actually, or allegedly, caused by recent storms

Sadly, it is a fact that some unscrupulous traders see an opportunity to take advantage of people when they are vulnerable – particularly the elderly and infirm – and this is particularly the case following incidents of bad weather.

Trading Standards always advise consumers never to deal with cold callers on your doorstep, whatever goods or services they are offering. This is particularly the case where householders may feel that work is required immediately to deal with an issue and persons describing themselves perhaps as tree surgeons or roofers seem the answer.

If damage is weather-related, always speak to your insurance company first before agreeing to have work done. The company is likely to have a list of approved traders and may well want to instruct them to undertake any necessary repairs. The fact is that it is better to wait for the work to be done properly, rather than it be done badly and have to be redone.

If you do not have insurance, or want to get the work done as soon as possible, then we would always advise –

  • Do not agree to have work done by anyone who cold calls.
  • Ask friends and family for recommendations.
  • Try to get at least three quotes for work.
  • Make sure you know the trader’s name and address. If things go wrong, it is usually easier to arrange a repair or refund with a local trader.

If you feel you have been scammed, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk.
Further advice can be obtained by emailing
trading.standards@croydon.gov.uk