CORNWALL Council is urging residents to stay vigilant following a spate of complaints about overpriced and often unnecessary roofing works leading to people being scammed.

It comes after a pensioner in Cornwall fell foul of rogue traders, agreeing to £1,300 of work and ending up paying £25,000 to the scammers.

It later cost her another £15,000 to remedy the botched work by the cowboy builders, and her story is being highlighted by Cornwall Council in order to spread awareness to others.

Jane, which is not her real name, is among many victims that have been pressurised into having work done on their homes.

After initially agreeing to £1,300 worth of work, she ended up paying £25,000 and needs to pay an additional £15,000 to put the roof right.

The 75-year-old, who wanted to share her story to warn others but asked that we don’t show her face, said she has struggled to sleep following her ordeal.

“They were talking in my face and were very loud and very pressurising,” she said.

“I don’t know what happened,” she added. “I should have said ‘no, just go away’.”

Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team have been investigating out-of-county roofing companies targeting residents across the Duchy.

The companies promote their services on websites and flyers which are sent out by post.

Once at the property, they will often claim to have found serious problems with the roof and give over-priced quotes for repairs.

Although at first the firms appear to be local, they are part of a larger network of businesses that sub-contract work among themselves. Often customers do not know who they should be dealing with and struggle to get answers to their questions and complaints.

Since the start of 2025, Cornwall’s Trading Standards team have received 50 complaints regarding poor quality or overpriced roofing works.

Gary Webster, group lead at Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team, said: “Some of these companies use multiple trading names and can be really difficult to trace.

“They appear to be local firms but when people agree to have work done it soon becomes apparent that they’re part of a wider network and the customers don’t know who they’re dealing with.

“We are investigating a number of different company names and urge anyone who has had a similar experience to report it via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline.”

Councillor Thalia Marrington, cabinet member responsible for community safety and public health at Cornwall Council, said: "Groups like these often target some of our must vulnerable residents. They can be very manipulative so we need to stay vigilant and look out for others, especially older people and people who live alone.

“We will not allow our residents to be treated like this and will do our best to help victims recover their money, and, where possible, seek justice for them.

“I urge homeowners to follow the advice given by Trading Standards and to not feel pressured into having work done.”