Residents in the Essex village of Bensfleet are being warned to look out for a rogue trader who has been knocking on peoples' doors and telling them their chimney needs urgent repair work.According to the Essex Echo, Trading Standards has received numerous reports of a man visiting local people and telling them that their chimney looks dangerous.
The man is then said to offer to do the work, charge an excessive price for it and then reduce it by knocking off the VAT.
Trading Standards is urging homeowners in the area who think their chimney flue and other areas need work to ask family or friends to refer a specialist repair firm to get the job done.
Homeowners with some knowledge of DIY could carry out repairs to their own chimneys.
Mitchell Kuffa Jr, a licensed builder and home inspector, told a reader of thetimesherald.com that small jobs can be fixed without shelling out large amounts of money.