Man arrested in connection with "bogus workman" offences
11th January 2019
Police in Lochaber can confirm that a 27-year-old man has been arrested in connection with alleged consumer protection offences in Fort William.
It follows an investigation by Police Scotland and Highland Council Trading Standards, after a report was received this week of "bogus workmen" in Fort William and alleged fraudulent activity relating to charges for work carried out on a house in the town.
The male was released pending further enquiries. It is anticipated that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal in due course.
Constable Gavin Law, based at Fort William Police Station, said: "Bogus callers remain a persistent problem in our communities and can result in people being scammed out of a significant amount of money and left with a poor standard of work and on occasions left in dangerous condition.
"We continue to work closely with our partners at Highland Council Trading Standards in an effort to protect members of the public from falling victim to doorstep crime.
“Cold callers can come across as extremely convincing and will make every effort to pressure homeowners into parting with their money for a product or service they do not require.
“We recommend never paying for goods or services to strangers who turn up uninvited at your door.
“If you are aware of any suspicious activity taking place at the home of a neighbour, friend or family member then please contact police immediately.
“Genuine tradespeople will be more than happy to be spoken to by police as they have nothing to hide and are keen to protect their trade.
“We must send a strong message to criminals that doorstep crime activities will not be tolerated, and assure residents that all incidents reported are taken seriously and acted upon."
Mark McGinty, Trading Standards Team Leader, added: “Cancellation rights exist to allow the householder to change their mind when an uninvited caller persuades them to contract at their home.
"Also, not providing details such as a name and address means if something goes wrong the householder has no one to go back to, but more importantly, no one to enforce their consumer rights against and pursue a claim for redress.
"Bogus workmen, that is, illegal trade, often have no regard to cancellation rights or any other consumer rights, they will often hide their identity because they simply do not wish engage after they have taken the householders money, often for very substandard works."
If you have any concerns with regards to doorstep crime please contact Highland Council Trading Standards on 01463 228700, or email trading.standards@highland.gov.uk, or your local Police Scotland Preventions and Interventions Officer on 101 or 999 in an emergency situation.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
