A Bradford woman and her grandmother are trying to trace a builder who was paid nearly £500 in advance for work.

Louise Thackray claims she has not heard from him for two weeks - and his phone number is now unavailable.

She and her 69-year-old grandmother Doreen Murphy, who lives with her in her Thackley home, decided to employ Legram Builders to do some work in their kitchen.

They say they were quoted £570 by boss Steve Powell to take out a kitchen window, brick up the hole, create a new hole and fit a window they had bought previously. They also wanted a new kitchen door and frame.

Miss Thackray, 27, said he started work on April 30 and, after taking out the existing window, asked her grandmother for money to buy materials and was given £150.

She said that the following day he asked her for £200 to buy the door frame and glass. After bricking up one hole and creating another, he said he needed £140 as a deposit for some scaffolding. "He said it was to prop the wall up and he would get £110 back when he returned it," Miss Thackray said.

She and her grandmother last saw anyone from the firm on May 4 when Mr Powell took back the scaffolding and went to pick up the door frame, which he said he had had to order.

Their kitchen still needs some plastering work, a door and door frame.

Miss Thackray said: "Later we rang his wife who said he had had an accident and would be back later that week. After numerous telephone calls, she gave us a date of Saturday.

"Saturday came but the builder did not and after numerous unanswered calls and messages that were not returned, we rang to find the phone number was no longer obtainable.

"It's probably going to cost another £400 to get everything sorted out.

"It has made my grandmother poorly worrying about it - we will just have to put it down as a bad experience."

Rights and Wrongs traced Mr Powell to an address in Legrams Avenue, Paradise Green, but neighbours said he had moved out more than a week ago and they believed he had gone to the Holme Wood area of Bradford.

The phone number in his advertisements is no longer available.

Bill anguish of gas customer

Unemployed Linda Bennett was flabbergasted when she got an estimated gas bill nearly five times the normal amount.

The 41-year-old's problems began when she decided to switch to another supplier after paying British Gas by direct debit.

She later received an estimated bill for £159 and she immediately contacted British Gas and gave them the correct meter reading.

She says she was told she would not have to pay the bill - but when her bank statement arrived she discovered the money had been taken out of her account.

"I just couldn't believe it when I saw it," she said.

"I got the bill on April 15 and phoned them straight away to say there was some mistake because my previous bills had been £34 and £37."

Ms Bennett, of Haigh Beck View, Thorpe Edge, said she then read the meter herself and passed on the figures.

"They told me to ignore the bill and not to worry because they would sort it out.

"I haven't got an overdraft and the bank will charge me if I go into the red.

"It has really worried me."

But after being contacted by Rights and Wrongs, British Gas investigated the case - and have sent off a refund cheque to Ms Bennett for £129.

A spokesman said: "Following a call from the T&A we have investigated the matter thoroughly."

He said her new supplier should have given a final meter reading to pipeline company Transco so an accurate bill could be sent to her.

But Transco did not receive the information in time so an estimate was sent out.

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