CRUCIAL talks will be held next week to persuade the Government to back a Bill to jail doorstep "cold callers" for up to three months.

Andrew Robathan, the Tory MP who has put forward legislation to outlaw the practice, said he would meet officials at the Home Office and the Department for Trade and Industry.

He predicted the talks would determine whether his backbench Bill had a realistic chance of becoming law - and stopping the vulnerable "being ripped off by these criminals".

Mr Robathan announced the meetings at a Westminster seminar, part of the campaign to ban "cold calling" at homes by workers offering property repairs, maintenance and improvements.

It follows a campaign spearheaded by The Northern Echo and backed by trading standards teams, local authorities and police across the region.

A household survey by the Trading Standards Institute found that almost 96 per cent of people did not want "cold callers" to knock on their door.

And almost ten per cent reported problems following property repairs or maintenance carried out by "cold callers" in the previous two years.

He quoted one example of an elderly woman from Killinghall, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, who was "cold called" by someone who claimed to work for the local highways department.

She was quoted £3 per square metre to resurface her drive. But after laying about 120 square metres, very poorly, she was told the bill would be £6,750.

She was also warned that, unless she paid, someone would return and damage her property.

The woman was so distressed that she handed the money over and declined to help trading standards officials and police investigate.

Mr Robathan's Private Member's Bill is due to be debated by MPs on March 12, but has little chance of making progress in Parliament without government support.

The MP for Blaby, Leicestershire, told the seminar: "There is a groundswell of opinion that something needs to be done. Here are criminals making a living exploiting people.

"I hope the Government, even if they don't back my Bill, will come forward in the near future with simple legislation to protect vulnerable people who are being ripped off by criminals."

Mr Robathan said work done by "cold callers" did not give householders the security of a contract, a 14-day "cooling-off" period or other consumer protection.

His Bill would impose jail terms of up to three months, or a £5,000 fine, on offenders, with exemptions for local authorities, undertakers and landlords.