Rogue trader campaign gets underway

BUDDING filmmakers are invited to take part in a competition aimed at helping to tackle doorstep crime.

The Good Neighbours Stop Rogue Traders campaign - led by the Trading Standards Institute, Citizens Advice and the National Trading Standards Board - focuses on preventing doorstep crime by encouraging neighbours, family, friends and carers to look out for those most at risk.

A national film competition has been launched to support the campaign, with amateur videographers in with a chance to win £1,000 by producing 90 seconds of footage on how good neighbours can protect the elderly and vulnerable from doorstep crime.

All entries – http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/events/VideoCompetition.cfm – must be received by midnight on Wednesday, October 1.

Moray Council’s trading standards section is participating in the national scheme.

Research indicates there as many as 170,000 incidents of doorstep crime each year, although many are never reported. Vulnerable consumers are targeted, with rogue traders convincing them to pay often inflated prices for poor quality or incomplete work.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.