Durham County Council’s fair trading team is encouraging residents to say ‘NO!’ to cold callers. The council’s team are joining forces with the police and local residents, to help deter unwanted cold callers by setting up cold calling awareness zones around the county.
The zones target priority areas where a problem with cold callers has been identified and businesses are expected to respect the resident’s wishes and avoid sending their sales teams to those areas. Joanne Waller, head of environment, health and consumer protection, said: “Working in partnership with the police, we are keen to help residents take control of dealing with unwanted callers at the door. “The zones that have been set up have been very successful and we have dealt with traders who have been found to be breaking the law.”
Cllr Bob Young, Cabinet member for strategic environment, added: “Not all doorstep sellers are bogus, however unlawful traders can be very persuasive and offer what seem to be attractive deals to unsuspecting and often vulnerable people in their homes”.
If residents, neighbourhood watch or other community groups are interested in setting up a cold calling awareness zone in their area, then further information can be found at www.durham.gov.uk (and search ‘cold calling’) or telephone: 03000 261 016. If you do receive calls at the door from uninvited traders or sales people, telephone the Citizens Advice Consumer helpline on: 08454 04 05 06 or you can report suspicious callers to Durham Police using the non-emergency number 101.
