Dales households warned about door-to-door con

Typically the salesman offer a relatively cheap, or even free, alarm system but fail to mention or gloss over the very expensive monitoring and maintenance charges which can be thousands of pounds a year.

This trader is also asking consumers for a small cheque made payable to The Police and Crime Commissioner, presumably to deceive consumers that they are working with or approved by the Commissioner – which they are not.

Traders misleading consumers about the true price of goods or services or giving a misleading impression that they are approved or endorsed by anyone are committing offences under Trading Standards regulations.

If you are aware of traders like these in your area please let us know by contacting the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05 06 to report such activity and get advice about consumer issues.

Trading Standards advice is never to deal with doorstep traders – if you are interested in an alarm system find a Trusted Trader by contacting Call Derbyshire on 08456 058058 or logging on to www.derbyshire.gov.uk/trusted trader