Warning Teesside cold-callers being bussed around country

Trading Standards warned elderly people often felt obliged to give them money

People from Teesside are being bussed around the country to make intimidating cold-calls, a trading standards officer has warned.

Claiming to be ex-servicemen or ex-offenders they become aggressive if they cannot make a sale, Stockton Home Safety Association was told.

Trading standards officer Paul Chilver said they were given a "set script" to put pressure on householders.

"They're trained in how to intimidate people," he said.

The sellers go door-to-door, offering items like cleaning products and cloths, claiming to be trying to turn their life around.

"They come from Nottingham, pick up a busload from Teesside and then travel around the country," Mr Chilver said.

The meeting heard householders who did not buy from someone claiming to be ex-army were accused of not supporting soldiers "fighting for this country" who were "protecting you".

'Like county lines'

Others said they were trying to prove they were worthy to join the army by getting a job.

"It's all a con," Mr Chilver said.

Some even carried card machines and elderly people in particular felt "obliged to give them some money to get rid of them", he added.

Stockton councillor Ann McCoy said: "It's almost like county lines, only in trading standards."

Common in the past, cold-calling appeared to have been "reinvented", she added.

The meeting was told cold-callers were also common on Teesside with regular alerts from local Neighbourhood Watch groups, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Chilver advised people to politely refuse to buy and then call 101.