Rogue roofer who scammed retired Lancashire couple out of £1,300 for 'make believe' repairs jailed
A rogue roofer who scammed a Lancashire couple out of £1,300 for 'make believe' roof repairs has been jailed.
An investigation was made into 36-year-old Christopher Parr by Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards and Salford's Trading Standards teams.
Parr targeted an elderly widow in Salford, leaving her with a badly damaged roof and £12,887 out of pocket.
A retired couple in Rossendale also made a formal complaint after hiring him to carry out work at their home.
Using the trading name 'Up and Over Roofing', Parr was found on the website Bark in November 2024 - an online marketplace that connects people with local professionals and service providers across various industries.
He quoted £300 to replace missing slates on their roof and also asked if he could check their loft while he was carrying out the work.
Parr told the couple that the rafters were wet and rotten and the roof battens and lining needed replacing for £2,000.
The couple were hesitant but agreed after Parr warned them the roof could collapse if they got heavy snowfall.
They paid him £1,300, which covered £300 for the replaced slates and a £1,000 deposit for the other work.
No paperwork was provided, including the legally required notice informing consumers of their cancellation rights.
Parr was due back to carry out the work a few days later, but the couple discussed the loft with friends and neighbours before he returned.
They started to doubt the work in the loft was necessary and contacted Parr to cancel.
He agreed to repay their £1,000 deposit, but his money was never repaid despite numerous promises, even when Trading Standards officers spoke to him.
Trading Standards instructed an independent surveyor to inspect the roof who reported that the suggested repair to the rafters was "a matter of make believe" and that the battens and lining didn’t require replacement.
He said the roof timbers and ancillary elements to the rear roof facet were in good order and in his opinion the suggested repairs were a deception.
The surveyor also found the earlier work to replace roof slates was not completed to an acceptable standard and had actually likely made matters worse.
He gave a £0 valuation to that work.
Parr, from Salford, was sentenced to 39 months in prison after appearing at Preston Crown Court today.
He has been in prison on remand/awaiting sentence for three months already so that will be taken as time served off the 39 months.
The judge also awarded compensation of £1,300 to the couple from Rossendale and £12,887 to his Salford victim.
Councillor Michael Green, cabinet member for Health and Wellbeing at Lancashire County Council said: "By undertaking shoddy work and then quoting for fictitious repairs, Christopher Parr clearly sought to con this couple out of thousands of pounds for unnecessary 'make believe' work.
"I'm very pleased that the couple followed their gut feeling and got our Trading Standards team involved and no further money was lost to this fraudster.
“I am pleased that he has been brought to justice.”
If you need help with a possible rogue trader, call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.