POLICE officers are determined to crack down on rogue traders plaguing vulnerable residents by giving advice to banks and checking vans and lorries.

The initiative, codenamed Operation Vanquish, was launched last week to tackle and target rogue traders who charge extortionate rates for work they either don’t carry out or complete to a low standard.

As part of the operation, PCSOs and active citizens delivered 300 information packs to vulnerable people living on Canvey.

Police have asked the Echo not to reveal where these elderly people live.

Officers from the community policing team were also joined by special constables and officers from Trading Standards to carry out checks of commercial vehicles.

Some 48 vans, trucks and flat-bed lorries were stopped and drivers were spoken to to establish that they were legitimate tradesmen.

One vehicle was dealt with for no insurance.

Officers specifically targeted commercial vehicles to try and track down rogue traders.

Insp Fergus Caulfield described the rogue traders’ activities as “completely disgusting” and said that they must be stopped.

He said: “Rogue traders target elderly people and can rip them off and take thousands of pounds.

“We do believe this type of crime is being under-reported, although this is difficult to establish.

“However we do know that this is having a serious effect on vulnerable people.

“Some criminals just think that it is acceptable to target vulnerable people and con them out of so much money, which is completely disgusting.”

He said that that it was important that bank staff knew the tell-tale signs of whether an elderly person was being subjected to a con.

He said: “We get some calls from banks - quite often they will ring us with their suspicions.

“We visited different banks and set up a stall with the active citizens to offer advice.

“We are going to continue our work with banks on the High Street at their busiest times to make sure that they ring us and we will take action.”

PC Ben Preston, from the community policing team, said: “It was a very successful day allowing us to work with partners in protecting and educating our residents against this type of crime and allowing us to engage with traders that were doing things legitimately and giving them support.”

Anyone with information about the rogue traders can call Essex Police on 101 or crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Alternatively visit crimestoppers-uk.org to complete an online form.

For information and advice on how to spot and deal with rogue traders, visit essex.police.uk/advice/rogue-traders