DETAILS of vulnerable and elderly people in Oxfordshire ripe for exploitation by conmen are being sold on lists in pubs across the UK.

The revelation came to light as police and trading standards officers on Friday carried out their first co-ordinated swoop on rogue traders during a countywide blitz.

Trading standards officers said they knew bogus workmen operating in Oxfordshire were compiling lists of those they had preyed on and were selling the information to other villains.

The details included how old the individual was, whether they lived alone and whether they paid for work in cash.

The traders were described as "the scum of the earth" by Oxfordshire County Council trading standards chief Nigel Strick, who led Operation Rogue Trader.

He said: "There are lists of vulnerable people in Oxfordshire that are being sold to other people in pubs across Oxfordshire.

"If you have paid cash at the door for work, the chances are you are already on one of those lists.

"We are out to get these people on anything we can. We will cause them maximum disruption."

After three months of intelligence gathering, four teams of trading standards officers and police yesterday swooped on small traders.

And although they failed to catch any rogue traders in the process of ripping people off, the authorities said they might have prevented a potential distraction burglary in North Oxford, and intercepted what they believed was a team of rogue traders in Carterton - and warned them off.

One spot check unearthed a gardener working at the home of an 76-year-old woman, off Woodstock Road, Oxford.

Although the gardener had done nothing wrong, the householder had been charged £600 for work which took just a few hours - and had not been left a receipt.

Police also used cameras during an Automatic Number Plate Recognition check on the city's ring road to identify vehicles of suspected rogue traders.

The crackdown resulted in:

  • 26 small traders being stopped and their credentials checked
  • The issuing of two formal warnings to businesses operating without proper paperwork
  • Three traders identified disposing of rubbish without a trade waste licence
  • Seven drivers stopped for tachograph/insurance offences
  • Two vehicles seized for insurance/tax offences
  • Eight fixed penalty notices issued for motoring offences.

PC Steven Higa, of Oxford Police, said: "Distraction burglary and rogue trading are high on our hit-list.

"These people encourage the elderly and vulnerable to pay for work they don't need and open them up to having work done in the future.

"It's terrible."

Since April this year, Oxfordshire Trading Standards has been called to 22 rogue trader incidents and is aware of more than 80 distraction burglaries.

Anyone suspecting rogue trader activity is urged to call Oxfordshire Trading Standards on 0845 051 0845 or the police on 999.