TRADING Standards are right to be concerned about increased reports of conmen preying on the county and the trend continuing into the pre-Christmas period.

Too often modern enforcement and other agencies try to fool the public by pumping out their “reassurance” messages that people should not be concerned about things happening in their neighbourhoods.

However Martin Woodley, of the Trading Standards doorstep crime team, is honest enough in his assessment that perhaps overall they are not winning the war, given the 294 complaints of rogue trading this year.

Although that’s a 15 per cent rise, some of the increase must be down to a greater public awareness and willingness to report problems.

And the county’s Trading Standards team should be congratulated for a series of successful prosecutions, including the jailing of four people.

It proves they can build a case to bring these reprehensible people to justice. But, like the police, Trading Standards needs the public’s help, either by preventing a crime happening in the first instance or reporting it afterwards.

With that help, we are sure next year we shall be reporting a fall in the number of cases.