Trading Standards

A Trading Standards campaign to help prevent babies and toddlers from being injured at home is being relaunched on 6 June.

Every year in England 60 children are killed, 450,000 attend A&E and 40,000 are admitted to hospital as a result of accidents in the home.

The Buy Wise Be Safe campaign aims to prevent injuries by providing clear advice on ways to make the home safer and what to look out for when buying safety equipment.

Originally developed by Trading Standards South West in 2005, the initiative was delivered across the region using a video pack through...

Devon residents are being warned against rogue doorstep traders offering home maintenance services this spring.

In 2015 87 complaints were received by the service in relation to doorstep crime, with an estimate loss of over £101,000.

In March this year six complaints were made and in February an estimated £3,000 was lost by victims, a 100 per cent increase on 2015.

The longer daylight hours often coincide with a rise in complaints made to Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service.

Last April, 10 complaints were made with an estimated £28,000 lost....

Illegal tobacco with an on-the-street value of more than £63,000 has been seized in a day of raids across Exeter.

In a joint operation on Friday 5 February carried out by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service and HRMC, six businesses in St Thomas, the city centre and in Pinhoe were investigated by officers, sniffer dogs and their handlers.

A mixture of retail and licensed premises and a self storage business were raided. Further investigations are being conducted by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service for trademark breaches.

In total 80kgs of rolling...

Three men found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the vulnerable and elderly for shoddy and unnecessary home repair work, were sentenced today at Exeter Crown Court in a case brought by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service.

Thomas Maughan, 27, and Thomas Mahon, 46, were each sent to prison for 12 months for their part in the fraud.

Both had pleaded not guilty but were convicted after an eight day trial.

The judge said these two were 'the heart of the conspiracy' and although he had sympathy for Mr Maughan’s role as the father of a disabled child, their...

Trading Standards officers are focusing on the practices of used car dealers and garages across Devon.

Every year Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service receives over 2,000 complaints about second hand cars and servicing.

Since April 2015 officers have inspected 56 car forecourts, garages, and traders selling used tyres.

Officers also booked a car into garages offering free safety checks to test if defects reported by the trader were genuine.

Officers have:

• Visited 18 forecourts with 13 cars withdrawn from sale.
• 38 premises
...

Three men have been found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the vulnerable and elderly following an eight-day trial at Exeter Crown Court.

Thomas Maughan, 26, and Thomas Mahon, 45, both of Princes Paddock, Farringdon, pleaded not guilty to the charge brought by the Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service.

A third man, Matthew Latham, 35, of the same address, pleaded guilty to the same offence.

During his summing up Judge Erik Salomonsen, who bailed the men until sentencing on 4th February 2016, warned them that they could all be jailed.

A fourth man,...

Consumers are being urged to think before buying this year’s ‘must have’ for Christmas, a hoverboard, which could be at risk of catching fire or even exploding.

Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service is appealing to Christmas shoppers to follow a 12-point safety checklist (below) if they are thinking of buying a hoverboard or have already purchased one.

Since October 15 more than 17,000 self-balancing scooters – or ‘hoverboards’– have been tested at national entry points due to safety concerns.

Of these, over 15,000 (88 per cent) were found to have significant...

A trader who travelled the country offering to clean householder’s carpets, including that of a vulnerable dementia sufferer, for rock-bottom prices before hiking his charges by up to 5,400 per cent has plead guilty to seven offences.

On 18th November, 2015 at Exeter Magistrates Court, just before a three day trial was scheduled to start, Mark Dudley of Humber Road, Ferndown, changed his pleas to guilty on four offences under the Fraud Act and three offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

All the offences related to either dishonestly failing...

Trading standards officers have seized 21 ponies and foals from land near Exeter deemed too dangerous for them, to uphold an order of Exeter Crown Court.

In April 2015, following his conviction at Exeter magistrates Court for Animal Welfare and Horse Passport offences, 74 year old Leslie Weatherill of The Hams, Ide, received a 12 weeks custodial sentence suspended for 18 months.

The court had heard how Mr Weatherill kept his ponies on an area of scrub and woodland at Timridge Brake, Doddiscombsleigh, which, according to a national expert on horses, was inadequate for their...

Father and son, Thomas Johnson, 57, and Tommy Johnson, 29, of Birtley Road, Guildford in Surrey, have pleaded guilty at Exeter Crown Court to a series of offences under the Fraud Act 2006, following an investigation by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Service.

The court heard that the Johnsons travelled down to the South West prepared to defraud local residents.

They appeared to be a legitimate business but hid their true trading identity by using the name of a dissolved company, Nuway Surfacing Ltd.

Thomas Johnson wore a meaningless identification badge that he...