A CRACKDOWN has been launched on bogus callers after a pensioner was conned out of thousands of pounds by cowboy builders.

This week police, trading standards officers and councillors teamed up to declare South Woodford and Snaresbrook official no cold-caller zones.

The project, which follows the completion of a successful pilot scheme in Clayhall, will see door-to-door salesmen discouraged, with posters and stickers being delivered to homes to warn off would-be-crooks.

The Guardian spoke to one 78-year-old victim for whom the new campaign has sadly come too late.

The pensioner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was tricked out of £1,000 by a group of fake builders who had promised to repair a roof on an outhouse in his back garden.

“It was the salesmanship that got me,” he said.

“I’ve always been nervous about people knocking on my door, but there was this lad called Tom who was very convincing. He offered to repair the roof of the building so I said yes.

“I paid him £1,000, but the problem was he didn’t do a very good job, and it was taking a very long time. I decided that I didn’t want to do business with this bloke anymore. But he just disappeared. He never told me his surname or number.”

A short while later the pensioner was approached by a new group of builders who told him they were there to fix the mistakes of the previous workman.

Police now believe this group was working with the original builder.

The builders persuaded him to part with another £1,000, before frog-marching him to the bank, where quick-thinking staff members realised something was up, and called the police. By the time officers arrived at the scene, the men had fled.

“It’s just so easy to be tricked,” he said.

Cllr Vanessa Cole, Cabinet Member for Community Safety said: “The Borough’s Bogus Caller Partnership is determined to eradicate this vicious and cowardly crime.

“The Partnership has recently been awarded a regional Tilley award for our effective work in combating bogus callers, which has seen the rolling out of ‘calling restricted zones’ across the borough and the introduction of a bogus caller hotline.”