Home repair cowboys face jail

Rogue plumbers could face jail under new measures aimed at curbing "cowboy" operators offering household services.

Under the Enterprise Bill, Patricia Hewitt, the Trade Secretary, is planning to extend the powers of trading standards officials so that they can issue so-called "stop now" orders to traders offering such services.

Flaws in the present laws were exposed by the BBC TV series Rogue Trader which exposed cheating heating engineers involved in scams when called in to repair a domestic boiler.

"Stop now" orders had been used to close down dodgy secondhand car dealers but they proved ineffective against the heating engineers because they did not cover those services.

The bill, which is due for a second reading in the Commons after the Easter recess, will allow court orders to close down door-to-door traders if they are found to be ripping off their customers.

Dishonest traders who continue in business could be jailed for contempt of court.

The Office of Fair Trading has recently gone to court to ask for a "stop now" order on a kitchen company following complaints that it delivered shoddy kitchens or failed to deliver parts. The court has not yet made a ruling.

Two trading standards departments have used the order process to gain an undertaking from a business in Aberdeen, Scotland, to cease ripping off customers.