ROGUE traders who flytip, use false names and don't always finish their jobs have been unmasked by the Echo.

Gerry McCann and his workforce drive unmarked vehicles and one worker has convictions for theft and assaulting a police officer.

Mawgan Nurding, 20, is a member of the team.

Mawgan was brought up in care and turned his life around, only to fall on hard times and end up at the Hovefields travellers' site in Wickford.

He became a "dosser" or a servant for travellers and spent ten weeks in a young offenders' unit after admitting stealing beer and assaulting a special constable in Basildon last year.

McCann and his team have duped customers into thinking they are professionals by wearing an official firm's fluorescent bib, and because McCann uses a "Highway Maintenance" work van.

One worker wore a bib with the logo of AA Knight - a Surrey-based multi-million pound construction firm which works on major contracts.

Ian Knight, managing director, said: "I assure you we have no connection to these people and do not carry out work in Basildon or East London.

"I am making inquiries as to how this happened."

Before work started, one customer was given a flyer for the firm, calling itself 1st Quote Paving, based in Woodlands Road, Ilford.

After work began, the company was described as Five Star Paving, based in Burnt Mills, Basildon, in a separate leaflet.

Work starts as early as 6.30am and can finish at 8pm.

The men load vehicles with equipment at Hampton Court, the McCanns' home at Hovefields, before heading to driveway jobs in East London.

McCann usually disappeared after work started, leaving heavy work to the boys.

Our reporter saw them break up a concrete drive and rip out trees from a garden in Clayhall, near Barkingside.

The rubble and cuttings were loaded into their green Iveco truck, which McCann checked was secure, before driving off separately.

At 5.30pm, our reporter followed it to Hainault industrial estate where it was driven in and out of a yard before being driven to a nearby cemetery, where they dumped it.

The men spent four more days blockpaving the drive and building a poorly-finished dividing wall.

They did another drive in Newham.

One man, from Clayhall, who asked not to be named, said he paid £3,000 for paving and work to a rear fence.

He said workers knocked at the door and said they had noticed problems with his drive, and offered to rip it out and do a good re-paving job.

He said: "My parents said we could not afford it, but they came back two more times, and the third time we agreed to the work."

McCann, who once turned up in a Mercedes, called himself Jimmy and left only a mobile phone number as contact.

The man said: "I thought they were a professional firm because his van said Highway Maintenance.

"But they didn't come back to finish the fence. I'm not 100 per cent happy, but the paving looks OK for the price."

How McCann responded

THE Echo rang Gerry McCann on a mobile phone number he uses for the block paving business, to allow him to comment.

Initially he answered to the name Archie - his nickname at Hovefields - but denied being him once we said we were from the Echo.

We asked about the business, flytipping and the public inquiry.

He said: "You've got the wrong man. My name's Jimmy. I don't do block paving."

He handed the phone to a man with an English accent to take down our contact number if he decided he did want to comment.

This man gave us another mobile phone number.

He said: "If you want to know about the block paving, call this number and ask for Bob."

When we called it the person at the other end hung up straight away.

Yesterday, one of McCann's workers called the Echo to complain about featuring in reports in Day One of our expose about modern day slavery in south Essex.

When we called him back an Irish man calling himself John Murphy answered.

He said: "He's not involved in block paving and he's going to sue. He lives with me at the back of the site on Five Acres. Wherever you are getting your information it's all wrong."

He disputed that people should pay tax if they were paid £50 for a day's building work, or if they were involved in scrap, before becoming abusive. We also called Five Star Paving.

An Irish woman said if we had evidence of flytipping we should have gone to the police.

She said: "These are people who would otherwise be living in cardboard boxes on the streets. They are not on income support and are getting a roof over their heads and work. We can't make them wash if they don't want to.

"You just want to write lies to get them kicked out of Hovefields. You should be writing about immigrants. Your paper is prejudiced."

She then hung up.

The number for 1st Quote Paving dialled through to a serviced office, who gave us a mobile phone number which was not answered.

Follow the full investigation in the Echo every day this week