If  work needs to be done on your property, known and reputable traders should be used. Residents should be extremely wary of any doorstep caller looking to carry out gardening or building work.

This warning comes following reports from the Radford and Coundon areas of a male in a white van approaching only older residents with a view to offering guttering cleaning services. An allegation has been made that this male became aggressive when challenged by a neighbour.

Although it is not illegal for traders to go door to door, unless there are specific restrictions within that location, most agreements entered into must come with written cancellation rights unless the cost is under £42.

When employing these doorstep callers, the concern is that after agreeing to work for a nominal cost, the resident is then informed that there is a lot more work needed and the costs escalate.

Our advice as always is not to deal with unexpected cold callers as this is a favoured approach used by rogue traders whose sole intention is to extract as much money from residents as possible.

If you do need work on your property or garden, use a reputable local trader who has been recommended by friends or family or someone who has been vetted and is part of the Age UK (Coventry) Trusted Traders Scheme, a partnership with Coventry Trading Standards. This service is available to people of all ages living in the Coventry area and can be contacted by phoning 024 7643 3982.

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A Coventry shopkeeper has lost his licence to sell alcohol after his store was caught selling illegal cigarettes to a child.

Trading Standards officers launched an investigation after reports that children had been seen smoking outside Qadz Local in Heath Road.

A young volunteer was sent into the shop fitted out with a video recording device and asked for some ‘cheap’ cigarettes.

The shop assistant took a packet of illegal cigarettes from an area between a refrigerator and a display of crisps and sold them for £3 without asking for proof of age. The money went straight into the till.

Officers immediately entered the shop to search for any illegal tobacco products and found a tray full of cigarettes which were either foreign labelled or failed to have the appropriate health warnings in English.

Shopkeeper Mohammed Naseer Qadiri – aged 33, was unable to offer any explanation for the sale or show that he had proper control over activities taking place in his shop. 

This week, Coventry City Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Sub–Committee revoked his alcohol premises licence.

They heard that he had failed to prevent the illegal trade in cigarettes in his store and had failed to meet the licence objectives of protecting children from harm by exposing them to alcohol by the sale of cheap cigarettes.

He had also failed in the Prevention of Crime objective by having illegal tobacco products; had ignored advice given by Trading Standards officers in a warning letter; and had deliberately obstructed officers when they asked for CCTV footage after he had been seen disposing of items in a plastic bag.

Anyone with information about illegal tobacco sales should call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 040 506.

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In May, Trading Standards reported a PPI scam which involved the purchase of iTunes vouchers in order to claim a 'refund'.

There has now been another report from a Wyken resident who received a call and was advised that they were due a PPI refund of £3,750 but to get this they would first have to purchase £375 in iTunes vouchers. These were to be given to a courier who would be calling later that day to drop off the refund cheque.

A second call then came but the resident had already realised this was a scam and did not engage with this call. No doubt, had the resident have done so, they would have been advised the company courier had been delayed and asked if the voucher serial codes could be given to speed up the process.

Fraudsters are using iTunes gift cards to collect money from victims because they can be easily redeemed and sold on. The scammers don’t need the physical card to redeem the value, just the serial code on the back.

Trading Standards advise that if you receive any call out of the blue and are asked for personal information, play it safe and hang up. It is better to hang up on a genuine call and do your research than to risk your personal details and lose your money to a scam.

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Waitrose is recalling four varieties of Waitrose 1 chocolate bars because they may contain pieces of plastic.

Product: Waitrose 1 White Chocolate

Pack size: 85g
Best before end: July 2018 
Batch codes: All

Product: Waitrose 1 White Chocolate with Matcha Tea & Pistachio 

Pack size: 85g
Best before end: July 2018
Batch codes: All  

Product: Waitrose 1 Milk Chocolate with Pistachio, Almond & Hazelnut

Pack size: 85g
Best before end: July 2018
Batch codes: All 

Product: Waitrose 1 Milk Chocolate with Feuilletine & Sea Salt

Pack size: 85g
Best before end: July 2018
Batch codes: All

If you have bought any of the above products do not eat it. Instead, return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund.

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The following notice has been issued by the manufacturer:

IMPORTANT SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT

Replacement iCandy Buckle and Crotch Strap for the Peach 2016 and Designer Midnight Editions.

As part of our on-going monitoring programme, we recently identified a very small number of iCandy buckles that have broken in use. This can result in the crotch strap coming away from the centre of the buckle. This relates specifically to the Peach 2016 model (batch E10799 to batch E10910) and the Peach Designer Collection Midnight Edition. We would like to stress that the waist and shoulder harness is not affected. It should also be noted that the likelihood of the buckle failing is extremely low.

When taking into consideration all of the information at our disposal, including reviewing all returns data, testing the products and also performing routine risk assessments, we have taken the decision to offer a replacement buckle and crotch strap, at no cost, to all customers that have products within the affected batch range. The replacement buckle is new and improved with added strength integrated into the part

Customers with affected products can find further instructions here.

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