With its red pavingstones and prettysquare pattern, thecouple’s front drivedidn’t look anythingout of the ordinary. Oddly, though, thisornamentation was an extra feature -one the elderly couple in the three-bedhouse in Plymstock, Devon, hadn’t askedfor when they had their drive paved inAugust 2009. For they had unknowinglyhired a rogue trader, who charged theman eye-watering ￡4,000 before fleeingand leaving the job unfinished.
Coded message
But as soon as the brickwork was putin place, the couple were plagued by astream of dodgy traders knocking ontheir door. One fraudster even said theywere entitled to £14,000 compensationfor the poor job on their driveway – butthey’d need to pay him £6,000 first.
The pair, who wish to remainanonymous, suffered the relentlessdoor-knocking over a period of fiveyears until, in January 2015, policerealised that the paved pattern on…
