Police say rogue traders preying on the elderly in Oswestry

West Mercia Police have said residents have reported rogue traders going door to door offering to do work on houses only to not complete it or do it improperly.

They say the traders are two men who targeted an elderly man in the Beech Grove area and are travelling in a white van with a ladder on the roof.

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Police have released descriptions of those involved. The one is described as “chubby with balding dark hair” and the second as “skinny with light blonde/ gingery hair”. Both were apparently wearing “hi vis jackets.”

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: “We have had a report of unscrupulous person`s prying on the elderly.

“Men have attended an address in the Beech Grove area of Oswestry where an elderly male lives, and offered to clean his gutters.

“The home owner agreed, but as in a lot of these cases, the “tradesmen” have not finished the job, only doing the front of the house, badly.

“Please, if you are cold called, just say “no thank you” and tell them that you will ask for recommendations from family and friends.”