The No Cold Calling Zone was set up in March last year by East Sussex County Council’s Trading Standards team working with Polegate Town Council, the Safer Wealden Partnership and local neighbourhood watch groups.
Local people say that the zone – which was organised to help reduce cold calling in the town – makes them feel safer and more confident about dealing with door step callers.
Polegate Town Council sent its residents a questionnaire recently asking for their views on the zone. Of those who replied, 78% said they feel safer in their own homes and 100% said they feel very confident or fairly confident about managing callers at their door. One resident said ‘Just knowing someone cares is a great confidence booster’.
Councillor Bob Tidy, Lead Member for Community Services at the County Council, said: “I would like to thank our Trading Standards team, Polegate Town Council and our other partners for their work in making this No Cold Calling Zone a success. To get such positive feedback from residents is a real bonus and shows that the scheme is helping to improve community safety – which is one of our top priorities.
“Rogue traders are a real menace and tend to target older and vulnerable members of the community and victims can literally have their lives ruined by the practices of some cold callers. The zone sends out a clear message that people in Polegate will not put up with this type of doorstep harassment.”
For more general information about the work of Trading Standards, please visit our section on help and advice for consumers.
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