A BARNOLDSWICK couple have been left counting the cost of agreeing to have work done by someone who knocked at their door touting for business.

Now, after sleepless nights and extra expense, they are warning other people not to make the same mistake.

The couple, who live in the Ghyll Meadows area of town, agreed to have the barge boards of their semi-detached house replaced with new UPVC ones. They had previously turned away someone who called unsolicited at their house, offering to do the work. But persistence and persuasiveness paid off for the workman when he tried again and the couple agreed.

They arrived to start work on Tuesday last week and were back again on Wednesday, pulling the old barge boards off. The couple told the workmen to be careful of their conservatory, at the back of the house. But they soon noticed two of the panels on the conservatory roof had been cracked. Then, despite pointing out the damage, two more of the panels were cracked.

The workmen offered to repair the damage, but that would have invalidated the guarantee given by the company which built the conservatory. The workmen failed to turn up for the rest of that week, leaving the house with no gutters, barge boards and some roof tiles missing. When they turned up on Monday, they refused to do any more work until the problems with the conservatory were sorted out.

It was then that the couple discovered the details of the company and its address in Skipton were false, and they had never been given a phone number. They called in the police who established that a vehicle used by the workmen was registered to travelling people who gave an address in the Midlands.

Now the couple are facing a substantial bill for the damage to their conservatory, and another to get the work to their house done properly. What looked like a cheap deal for them will turn out very expensive. Thankfully, they didn't hand over any money to the workmen

The householder, who preferred not to be named, said: "I'm not usually gullible at all, but I fell for it this time. It's so easy with hindsight to see where I went wrong.

"Now I just want to warn other people not to make the same mistake I did. A 'cheap' job is going to cost me about five times as much!"

The police echo that warning and advise people to only deal with reputable firms and never with people who call uninvited at the door. If you have a job that needs doing, contact several reputable local or national firms who will be happy to provide full details of their business and written quotes.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.