A COMPANY boss has been fined after an elderly man was convinced to pay for "unnecessary and worthless" work to his home.

Martin Hancox, the director of GER (Southern) Ltd, a business based in Bournemouth's Burlington Arcade, must pay £20,000 for deceiving the 87-year-old man.

Hancox, 43, admitted unfair trading charges at Herefordshire Magistrates' Court after an investigation by Trading Standards.

Both he and his company were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £20,343 after magistrates heard elderly people in Herefordshire were targeted.

The defendant blamed "rogue staff" for cold-calling lists of victims whose names appeared on databases.

One of the oldest victims was missold spray foam insulation at the inflated cost of £5,000 in 2014.

In June 2017, he was contacted again and "coerced" into agreeing to an appointment with company salesmen. He was then falsely told moss on his roof had caused a leak.

Eventually, the victim was deceived into signing up for further works worth £3,200.

The additional work was "unnecessary and useless", it was heard.

Hancox told magistrates he was unaware of the incident, and laid the blame at members of staff working for the company.

However, he told the court he felt he had to take responsibility as director.

Marc Willimont of Herefordshire council said: "The way that vulnerable elderly home owners are sold roof and wall coatings is a scam - this case is just one in a series of rogue trader prosecutions our Trading Standards team have recently pursued.

"This particular case demonstrates the aggressive sales technique and price inflation that rogue companies use to scam our residents into agreeing to unnecessary or poor quality work.

“GER (Southern) Ltd is one of a string of companies that target the elderly for unnecessary spray foam insulation. To make matters worse, this company returned to a previous victim to deceive them for a second time.

“We want family, friends and neighbours to remain vigilant in protecting elderly residents who are often the target of such scams. I would urge people to never respond to unsolicited telephone calls, mail shots, text messages or door-to-door selling.

"By responding to this unsolicited contact, victims are likely to be put onto a mailing list and have their information sold to other scammers.”