Guidance given to home-based online pet food suppliers

Home-based online pet food suppliers are being reminded of the importance of ensuring that the products that they sell are legal after 10 were found to be selling products that … Continue reading →

Illegal tobacco products and vapes seized

Trading Standards Officers seized illegal tobacco products and vapes with an estimated value of over £166,000 during a joint operation with police earlier this month. Officers from Heart of the … Continue reading →

Trading Standards safety message for e-bike or e-scooter owners or buyers

Trading Standards is advising consumers and businesses to ensure that e-scooters and Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (e-bikes) are safe and compliant with the correct safety regulations before they are purchased, … Continue reading →

Trading Standards gives advice on how to ensure toys are safe this Christmas

To help ensure that the toys you are buying this Christmas are safe Trading Standards has released two short videos. The videos, about toy safety and buying electrical goods, feature … Continue reading →

‘Crime doesn’t pay’; Rogue builder told to pay back over £200,000

Our Service prosecuted a rogue builder earlier this year, and now that builder could be paying out for ‘the rest of his life’. Samuel Harvey, of Greenbank Road, Barnstaple, was … Continue reading →

Black Friday warning: if it’s too good to be true, it probably is

Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service is warning consumers to be wary of scams when shopping online this Black Friday.  New research shows more than one in four … Continue reading →

Tradesman who pressured vulnerable customer fined

A tradesman who pressured a vulnerable pensioner into paying £2,000 to have loft insulation removed and then bombarded her with aggressive calls demanding she pay the £5,000 balance, has been … Continue reading →

‘Toolkit’ will help protect students from scams

Our trading standards service is encouraging students and young people to use a new online‘toolkit’ to help them guard against scams.   A recent survey (2022) found that a third … Continue reading →

Rogue trader ordered to repay elderly victim £27,500

A rogue trader has been ordered to pay almost £40,000 after convincing a pensioner to let him carry out roofing work that wasn’t needed. The victim, from Somerset, used her … Continue reading →

Illegal tobacco seized

Illegal tobacco and vapes worth almost £100,000 have been seized from five premises across Plymouth. Acting on intelligence, officers from our trading standards service, visited six commercial and retail premises … Continue reading →