Man fed up with cold callers starts charging them

James Jeagar warned door knockers they would be charged £10 per minute to talk to him

A fed-up resident has taken the fight to “nuisance” cold callers by introducing a £10 per minute charge to listen to sales, charity or religious pitches.

James Jeagar, who lives in Great Cornard, Suffolk, has grown increasingly “sick and tired” of “scumbag” strangers knocking on his door in an attempt to make money or sign him up to causes.

In a bid to deter them targeting his house, he sellotaped a stern message on his front window warning them they would incur a fee if they wanted to talk to him.

The message read: “This household charges £10 per minute and the minimum charge is five minutes, payable by cash in advance.”

It goes on to add: “By knocking on the door you signal your agreement to the terms outlined.”

According to Mr Jeagar, the message seemed to already be getting through to those it was aimed at.

He said: “I just put it up as a bit of a joke but I’ve not had any unwanted doorknockers come around since, so it is proving to be quite successful.

“I am just sick and tired of people coming round and knocking on my door, trying to get you to buy something or donate to something – it’s just a such a nuisance.

“But, if they want us to give them money, well it’s now a £50 minimum charge to try to convince me – just £10 per minute of me standing there listening is all I ask."

He added: “I put it up on the Sudbury Suffolk Moaners Group on Facebook and it went down quite a treat on there with a lot of people being supportive and genuinely positive.”

Mr Jeagar has now called on other people to follow suit in the hope it may help protect the more vulnerable homeowners in the county.

“I think it's important everyone does their bit to make it clear that they don't want any cold callers as this will hopefully contribute stopping the practice altogether,” he said.

“Not to just stopping it being irritating for us, but also it would mean vulnerable people are not pushed into giving away money on the doorstep.”