Preston trader Billee Hopkinson pleads guilty at Preston Magistrates Court to three unfair trading charges

35-year-old Billee Hopkinson of Tag Lane, Ingol, appeared at Preston Magistrates Court on January 16 2023 faced with three charges from The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008.

The first two counts were for knowingly or recklessly engaging in a commercial practice which contravenes the requirements of professional diligence under regulation 3(3)(a), between the period of August 31 2020 to July 17 2021, and September 6 2021 to November 30 2021 respectively.

The third was for engaging in a commercial practice which is a misleading omission under regulation 6 on January 24 2022.

Hopkinson indicated a guilty plea for all three charges, and will appear at Preston Crown Court for a Sentence Hearing on March 17 2023.

The penalty for such offences will be a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

Hopkinson hit the headlines last year when a number of disgruntled former customers told the Post they had handed over thousands of pounds to his company Ultra Restore for shoddy and sometimes non-existent construction work. Ultra Restore went into liquidation on December 31 2021.

At the time, the company was being investigated by trading standards, and a spokesperson told the Post: "Lancashire County Council Trading Standards have confirmed that they are currently analysing all information received."

One customer Tony Carey said that after handing over £6,200 ahead of the project, Ultra Restore pulled down large parts of his existing extension but never returned to finish the job, leaving his home like a building site. Another man says he spent £26,000 on unfinished construction work before Ultra Restore went into a liquidation, and a mum of three says she lost £17,000.

When confronted by the Post last year with complaints from his former customers, Hopkinson blamed rising material costs for the botched jobs. At the time, he said: “I’m being made out to be some weasel who’s taking money off people and running off and living this high life but I’m not, the truth will come out because my bank accounts are being investigated and they’ll show that since lockdown I’ve struggled to keep my head above water.”