ROGUE traders are on the run in North Yorkshire as the fight against doorstep crime passes a major milestone.

The trading standards department has just set up its latest "No Cold Calling Zone" - the 200th in the county since the scheme was launched three years ago.

The zones have shown their value time and again in helping to reduce both cold calling and doorstep crime in general - and the number of uninvited callers being reported has fallen significantly.

Recent figures show that, over the last two years, although over 600 doorstep crime complaints were made to the department by people in North Yorkshire, no one in a No Cold Calling Zone fell victim to the conmen.

The zones were originally launched at Great Ayton, near Stokesley, after it had been heavily targeted by gangs of bogus roof repairers who had fleeced vulnerable residents out of thousands of pounds.

Members of one three-man roofing gang, who cheated one Great Ayton resident out of £56,000, were later convicted and sent to prison for their crimes.

The county council’s executive member for trading standards, Clare Wood, said: "We believe that No Cold Calling Zones send out a clear signal to those people who target vulnerable householders that they are not welcome.

"The cold callers put undue pressure on householders by having someone knocking at their door, often at dusk, trying to get them to buy something or have work done."

Doorstep crime is a major problem throughout the UK and older adults in particular are at risk from bogus callers and doorstep rogue traders.

The latest zone has been set up at the Wheelhouse Square sheltered housing complex for the elderly in Scarborough but officials want to create even more.

Trading standards officers can create the zones in areas where the residents are all in full agreements with the scheme.

Anyone who feels that their neighbourhood would benefit from being in such a zone should contact the trading standards department on 08454 040506.

*Doorstep crime is a major problem in the UK. As well people being fleeced with poor property repairs or garden maintenance, they can fall victim to distraction burglaries or deception.