A 90-year-old Widnes man with dementia was targeted by traders who demanded £9,500 to fix his driveway - even though he couldn’t remember agreeing to the work.

Another elderly man was left with water pouring through his ceiling after forking out almost £10,000 to a cowboy builder, with the perpetrator now facing a hefty prison sentence.

They are just two cases which Halton Trading Standards have dealt with as outlined in a new report to the council’s health and wellbeing board.

Among the cases of doorstep crime recorded by the department, one involved a 90-year-old man with dementia being targeted by traders who demanded £9,500 for work to his driveway. According to the report, the victim was not aware what work had been agreed to and the trader did not provide the correct paperwork required by law. The police were contacted by the man’s relatives after he went to withdraw £2,000 in cash to pay the traders. Trading Standards officers took over the case and intervened to prevent the victim losing more money and to negotiate a refund of money already paid.

The pensioner was provided with a Ring CCTV doorbell as part of a scheme to help prevent repeat victims.

In another case, an elderly victim was advised he needed a new roof and paid £9,900 to a trader. He was left with water pouring through the ceilings of his home and the work was found to have no value. Following a criminal investigation, it was identified that the trader was committing fraudulent activity across the North West and had previous convictions for similar offences.

The report said: "The prosecution has been joined with two other local authorities at Preston Crown Court. The trader will be sentenced in July and is expected to receive a significant custodial sentence and prevented from trading with a criminal behaviour order on release.

"The team are also assisting the consumer in obtaining a refund from their bank through the Financial Ombudsman Service."