ROGUE traders escorted a woman in her nineties to a bank after charging thousands of pounds to clean a porch roof, a Hereford man has warned.

Jon Bentley-Leek said he was alerted to the scam on Monday morning, when his 91-year-old father called him to say a man had taken his mother to the bank to withdraw money.

The visit followed a cold-call on Saturday, when the elderly couple were told that moss needed removing from the roof of their Elgar Avenue home.

They agreed for the work to be done, but when the men arrived on Monday they demanded £3,500 for the job, eventually agreeing to accept £3,000.

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"One of them drove my mother to the bank so she could take out the money," Mr Bentley-Leek said.

"The others said they were going for breakfast and left with their ladders and pressure washer. They have not been back since."

He said the bank had not questioned why his mother was withdrawing such a large sum of money, but on leaving, she was unable to find the man who had driven her into town, and got a taxi back home alone.

The only part of the roof that had been cleaned was a small porch, while a neighbour reported seeing a man on the roof with no scaffolding or safety equipment.

The moss removed from the porch roof has been left on the front doorstep.

"No money was given to these people, but it's possible they are doing it to other people in the area. I want to warn people to be extra cautious," Mr Bentley-Leek said.

"My parents were put under pressure by two quite boisterous men, and are still in a state of shock. I am now taking time off work to stay with them in case these people come back."

Inspector Gregory Tudge said: “We are urging the community to be on their guard after rogue traders struck in the Tupsley area of the city on Monday morning.

“Shortly before 9am we were alerted that a woman had been asked to pay a significant amount of cash for incomplete cleaning work on her home.

“Thankfully no money was handed over but we are asking for any members of the local community to report any suspicious tradespeople in the area on 101, quoting incident number 276s of February 3.

“Sadly offenders of these despicable crimes will target elderly or vulnerable people, they can be incredibly convincing and worry them into thinking it is absolutely necessary for the work to be carried out and we would urge anyone who does have an elderly or vulnerable relative, friend or neighbour to make sure they’re aware that these people are not always as genuine as they seem.”