East Sussex County Council’s Trading Standards Service will be hitting the road and visiting various venues across East Sussex during the week. Officers will be holding special advice surgeries at Willingdon, Crowborough, Lewes, Peacehaven, Bexhill and Hailsham. People can also call the consumer advice line on Eastbourne 01323 418200 (option one) for help and support.
Councillor Bob Tidy, Lead Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: "I am very pleased that we are once again taking part in National Consumer Week and offering this support to local people. It’s a real boost to our priority of improving community safety.
"Our officers want to help as many people as possible, especially older and more vulnerable residents who may be at greater risk of being targeted by unscrupulous salespeople. Our records show that the number of incidents involving doorstep sellers continues to rise despite major efforts to raise public awareness. I would encourage anyone who is worried about this issue to visit one of our advice surgeries.”
The theme of this year’s National Consumer Week is ‘Home Safe and Sound’. It will focus on consumer issues such as doorstep selling, counterfeit goods and postal scams.
"The sale of counterfeit goods and the increase in postal scams are of great concern. Our advice to people is that if an offer sounds too good to be true, then it usually is,” said Councillor Tidy. "We are committed to working in partnership with other Trading Standards Services, the police and other enforcement agencies across the South East to tackle these problems.”
The Council’s Trading Standards Service will be offering advice on all these issues during the week. Details of the advice surgeries are as follows:
- Willingdon Parish Council Office, 3 Gorringe Valley Road, Willingdon – Monday 31 October from 10.00am – 12noon.
- Crowborough Library, Council Offices, Pine Grove – Monday 31 October from 2.00 – 4.00pm
- The Guinness Trust, Leighside House, Court Road, Lewes – Tuesday 1 November from 10.00am – 12noon.
- Peacehaven Library, Meridian Centre, Peacehaven – Tuesday 1 November from 2.00 – 4.00pm.
- Bexhill Help Point, Town Hall, Rother District Council, London Road, Bexhill-on-Sea – Wednesday 2 November from 10.00am – 1.00pm.
- Charles Hunter Centre, Vicarage Field, Hailsham – Thursday 3 November from 10.00am – 12noon.
People can get further information about the advice surgeries by calling Eastbourne 01323 418228.
See our page on Trading Standards – consumer information.
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