HOUSEHOLDS are being warned to be on the alert for cold-callers going from door to door offering tree-cutting and gardening services.

Trading standards officers in North Yorkshire fear that with the bad weather people may want to take advantage of any offer to remove overgrown trees or shrubs.

But their advice is to steer clear of cold callers and get quotes from reputable traders.

The county's trading standards teams are at the forefront of the Doorstoppers campaign - spearheaded by The Northern Echo - to put doorstep rogues out of business.

They say those knocking at doors could be inexperienced and could cause irreparable damage to branches being cut back, to the extent where the tree or shrub may subsequently die off.

Furthermore, in the case of unsolicited calls where the value of the contract is greater than £35, cancellation rights should be given allowing the householder time to think twice.

Already one householder in the county has paid £80 for some trees to be cut back, even though she did not agree for the work to go ahead.

"In these circumstances, criminal damage has been committed and, as there was no agreement for work or cancellation rights given, a valid contract was not formed," said a spokesman.

"Householders should not part with their money but call trading standards and the police."

The county's executive member for community services, John Fort, added: "We know that there are many excellent locally based traders in North Yorkshire. We would prefer people spend their money with them rather than engaging doorstep traders.

"Reputable traders tend to have so much work on that they do not have time to go into our community knocking on doors, so residents should ask themselves why the person at the door is so desperate for work.

"Our advice is to ask friends for recommendations for traders and stick with someone who will not be here today and gone tomorrow."