Elderly Penwortham couple felt so intimidated they handed their £200 heating allowance to a rogue trader

The harrowing statement of the victim, who the Post is not naming in order to protect him, was read during the case against roofer Ben Smith, 29, who cold called the couple at their Penwortham home.

He failed to provide a cancellation notice to them, or disclose details of his name and address, and pressured the couple, aged 81 and 80, into handing over £200 for a job which was not complete.

The moment the fraudster builder scaled their roof was caught on camera by a concerned neighbour, who filmed them doing just 20 minutes work.

The 81-year-old, who was previously awarded the British Empire Medal, said: “ We are still trying to recover from the shock of the event.

“No sooner had they started he demanded the whole payment of £500.

The most I gave him was £200 with the rest to be paid on completion.

"When I refused to pay him the whole amount he became very nasty and bullying.

“We decided to call on Lancashire Trading Standards for advice.

“The £200 we paid was the £200 we had just received from the Government for heating allowance as we are both over 80.

“I don’t think we will ever get over this experience of how cruel people can be.

“My wife has stopped answering the door to anyone.”

Smith, of no fixed abode, had knocked on their door and asked if they ‘remembered him’ from a previous job years earlier.

The couple told him they had problems with their roof and he told them they needed eaves guards at the roof line, at a cost of £150.

Additional work was also agreed, including work to the guttering, but no price was discussed, and towards the end, Smith presented the pensioners with a hastily written demand for £600.

Smith already has extensive convictions including similar offences, and is currently in prison on other matters including a previous trading offence where an elderly man was taken to the bank to withdraw money.

Last week, Recorder Peter Atherton, sitting at Preston Crown Court, jailed Smith for two months, which he will serve alongside the 43 months he is already serving for burglary.