Home   News   Article

Subscribe Now

'No cold calling' zone is expanded in Newbury





The new move is part of West Berkshire trading standards’ officials summer blitz on rogue traders.
Earlier this year the Faircross Estate and Curridge Piece in Hermitage and Meadow Road, Newbury, joined the scheme.
Now residents of the Kersey Crescent area are poised to join.
Trading standards officer Robert Charlton said: “The ‘no cold calling’ zone launch is in the Kersey Crescent area of Newbury and involves a total of nine roads.
“It has been arranged with the residents to launch the zone - that is, we will hand over the road signs and door stickers to residents at 12pm on Wednesday, July 4.”
Residents will all be provided with the stickers to display on their front doors to make callers aware that the area is a ‘no cold calling’ zone and that they are not prepared to deal with them.
Mr Charlton’s colleague, Sean Murphy, said that if cold callers ignored the signs, they could leave themselves vulnerable to a charge of aggressive trading.
First however, residents need to demonstrate that they do not wish to be ‘cold called’ and must fill in questionnaires demonstrating this.
In the surveys conducted, 95 per cent of residents of the above streets who responded were in favour of a ban on cold calling.
Signs will now be put into place to indicate this and cold calling will breach consumer protection laws.
West Berkshire Council’s executive member responsible for public protection Hilary Cole (Con, Chieveley), has described the trend as a “good example of communities determining how they wish things to be in their own locality.”
The zones are primarily designed to reduce doorstep crime and distraction burglary. However, the zones should also stop any unwanted cold callers and empower residents to have confidence to deter callers they do not wish to deal with.
The zones are not designed to prevent people distributing leaflets or catalogues or to deter people on legitimate business such as gas, electricity and water meter readers.
Meanwhile the summer blitz on rogue traders has generated a heartening public response, with trading standards officers following up calls on a number of suspects.
Mr Murphy said: “All of our recent successful prosecutions resulted from people alerting us to something not being right. Time is of the essence and we aim to get there within the hour.
“This helps us collect evidence against the perpetrators which can secure a conviction. We want friends, families and neighbours to look out for those who might be susceptible to to these people.
To report any suspicious trader activity, call trading standards on (01635) 519930.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More