Ian Colwell T/A Complete Build (UK)

Ian Charles Colwell of 13 Heath Street, Wyesham, Monmouth and former Managing Director of Complete Build (UK) Ltd., a company that has now since gone into liquidation, pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court on the 8th December 2008, to six charges under Section 14 of the Trade Description Act 1968, to recklessly making a false statement as to the provision of a service.

He was fined a total of £2100 and ordered to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs of some £2000 following a prosecution initiated by Herefordshire Council's Trading Standards Service.

Ian Colwell's company was employed to undertake the renovation of a cottage near Glewstone, Herefordshire during 2006. Problems started to arise with the renovation and costs started to spiral out of control. The builder employed the services of a Quantity Surveyor who produced a final account that was different to the actual work completed.

In 2007, an 'inflated' bill was submitted to the owner requesting payment for an additional £58,000. When Trading Standards started to investigate the matter, it became apparent that a number of items of work claimed for were simply not undertaken, wrongly described or stated with incorrect measurements.

Mike Pigrem Regulatory Services Manager for Herefordshire Council said:

"All tradesmen should take this as a wake up call and ensure that they carefully check any bills submitted for payment to ensure that they are correct. Claiming for such fictitious work is illegal and will be viewed as a serious matter by this Service".