Three rogue traders pleaded guilty to offences under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations following an inspection into roofing work at the home of an elderly couple in March 2016.

The plight of the pensioners, both in their 90s, only came to light thanks to the vigilance of staff at the city centre branch of the Coventry Building Society. They raised concerns with Trading Standards after the brother, a veteran of World War II and his sister had been escorted to the branch by one of the traders, Nadeem Yasin, to withdraw nearly £7,500.00 to pay for roofing work being undertaken at their home.

The picture is Nadeem Yasin outside Coventry Magistrates Court after a previous hearing in January 2012 for similar offences.

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Trading Standards is supporting Alcohol Awareness Week.

​The event runs all this week and is part of a national campaign to talk more about the stigma around alcohol abuse, addiction and the effects on people who drink too much and those close to them.

The Public Health Team has recently commissioned a Drug and Alcohol community service, which will be run by the organisation Change, Grow, Live.

The service is part of Public Health’s work to tackle substance abuse in the city, support victims and reach out to vulnerable people in Coventry. You can find out more about the service on their website.

In recent national Trading Standards news, the dangers of buying cheap vodka have been highlighted following a prosecution from North East Lincolnshire Trading Standards.

The fake vodka came to the attention of Trading Standards officers last year when a woman said a bottle of Chekov vodka she had bought for £10 smelled of screen wash and she became ill for a number of days after drinking it.

Investigations later showed the alcohol in the bottle exceeded permitted levels and was also found to contain an organic agricultural chemical.

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Trading Standards is warning Whatsapp users to be on their guard for a scam message doing the rounds.

The message tells WhatsApp users that, to celebrate Asda’s 68 anniversary, the retailer is offering everyone a free £250 voucher.

All you need to do is click on a link and fill in your details.

There are two tell-tale signs the scam is fake: the spelling and grammar mistakes and, if you manually type in the supposed url mentioned in the offer ( http://www.asda.com/mycoupon ), you will see that the page does not exist on Asda.

Trading Standards advise people to avoid unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.

Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, suggests anyone who has fallen victim to this scam to report it online or call 0300 123 2040.

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November is Will Aid Month in the UK. 

The scheme provides cheaper access to legal services for writing a will. People can have their will written up or amended by a participating solicitor in exchange for a donation to one of several approved charities 

Recommended suggested donations are £95 for a single will and £150 for a basic pair of mirror wills.

 For more information go to www.willaid.org.uk

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