Press release

Government must act to tackle criminals taking over high streets and protect consumers, Which? warns

5 min read

Crooks, conmen and cowboy traders are thriving at the expense of law-abiding businesses and citizens due to the collapse of services designed to investigate rogue traders, dangerous products and counterfeit goods, Which? is warning.

New research from the consumer champion shows how declining trading standards and consumer enforcement services mean many complaints to trading standards go uninvestigated and proactive checks to ensure compliance with consumer protections are no longer happening. Meanwhile, criminals know the chances of facing serious legal consequences are next to zero - contributing to the decline of UK high streets, making online marketplaces more unsafe and feeding into narratives about 'Broken Britain'.

Trading Standards teams across the country have the power to investigate rogue traders, and prosecute the most egregious offenders. 

However, as a Which? report, published today, lays bare, deficiencies in the consumer enforcement system mean many trading standards teams are stretched too thinly to properly investigate wrongdoing. 

When the consumer champion’s Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all 187 trading standards teams in England, Scotland and Wales asked about resourcing, areas of enforcement action that were being deprioritised and the number of enforcement actions taken, the picture was concerning.

A striking number of services, 36, including Liverpool and the Regulatory Services Partnership, comprising the three London boroughs Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth, reported no criminal prosecutions in the 2023-24 financial year. A further 25 services reported only one criminal prosecution. 

The FOI request also found that some trading standards teams in the country have fewer than one member of staff per 100,000 people, while proactive inspections on businesses and important areas of enforcement action such as counterfeit goods, scams and weights and measures have been deprioritised by several teams. 

The real-world consequences of this mean that consumers are put at greater risk of having their money taken by rogue traders, like cowboy builders and unscrupulous businesses.

Which? was contacted by one pensioner, Mr Smith, who experienced a nightmarish ordeal at the hands of cowboy builders - made worse by trading standards’ dismissive handling of his case. He was so concerned about facing retribution from the rogue traders who damaged his home that he would only speak on condition of anonymity.

Mr Smith asked some traders to do some painting of the outside of his house after they unexpectedly knocked on his door offering to finish painting his roof. After one of the traders got on to the roof, a loud banging noise was heard and the trader came down to say that the roof was damaged and it would cost more than £5,000 to fix it. Mr Smith believes the trader deliberately damaged his roof so they could intimidate him into paying them to repair it. Mr Smith said the three men “crowded round” him and he ended up paying them almost £400 to go away, even though they did not even complete the original small painting job discussed.

Mr Smith contacted his local trading standards team at Barnet Council, but they said they ‘weren’t interested.’ 

Barnet Council told Which?: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, our trading standards team is fully committed to ensuring that consumers are protected and that rogue and illegal traders face consequences.” 

This is one of a number of stories Which? has heard from consumers who feel like they have not been helped enough by their local trading standards teams. These experiences range from falling victim to cowboy builders, to buying potentially dangerous cosmetics from third-party sellers on online marketplaces. Trading standards issues affect consumers while both shopping online and on the high street. 

Which? believes the current crisis will not be solved without a significant overhaul of the consumer enforcement system. 

Urgent, short-term actions are needed to ensure trading standards teams across the country are sharing data better to identify risks and understand what actions other local authorities are taking, while also safeguarding consumers by reallocating expertise and resources to places where teams are failing to deliver key consumer protections. 

Over the longer term, there must be improved accountability for enforcing consumer protections and transparency about handling of consumer complaints, stronger collaboration at a regional level and redistribution of responsibilities for the most complex businesses between Trading Standards teams and national regulators.

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said:

 “From illicit cigarette and vape shops to cowboy builders and sales of fake and dangerous products online, criminals are thriving and ordinary people feel powerless as their complaints are routinely ignored. It all adds to the sense that Britain isn’t working for people who work hard and follow the rules.

“Our research shows how the systems designed to investigate these activities, provide an effective deterrent and help people get justice have effectively collapsed and are in need of an urgent overhaul so they are fit to deal with the range of threats we are facing on the high street and online.

“If the government is serious about tackling crime and supporting responsible consumers and businesses, ministers need to get a grip on the criminals and rogue traders destroying lives, by reforming our trading standards.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Which? investigation finds at least two thirds of cosmetics it bought from online marketplaces may be counterfeit 

Right of replies 

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: 

“While we cannot comment on individual cases, our Trading Standards team is fully committed to ensuring that consumers are protected and that rogue and illegal traders face consequences.

“Since this case, Barnet’s trading standards service has been brought back in-house, and the team has been expanded. We now have 8 officers working within the trading standards department which equates to one officer per 50,000, in what is London’s second largest borough.

“In recent months (since April 2025) the team has carried out 51 inspections, seized 9,329 items of illegal goods from shops in the borough which have been valued at £120,868.00 and issued fines of £85,950.  We have successfully prosecuted 1 rogue trader as well as obtaining 2 closure orders which have been served on non-compliant businesses with another order authorised.

“We are committed to protecting consumers, supporting legitimate businesses, and disrupting criminal networks. We are collaborating with national and regional partners and benefit from increased government investment, which is enabling us to expand our enforcement capacity.”

About Which?

Which? is the UK’s consumer champion, here to make life simpler, fairer and safer for everyone. Our research gets to the heart of consumer issues, our advice is impartial, and our rigorous product tests lead to expert recommendations. We’re the independent consumer voice that influences politicians and lawmakers, investigates, holds businesses to account and makes change happen. As an organisation we’re not for profit and all for making consumers more powerful.

The information in this press release is for editorial use by journalists and media outlets only. Any business seeking to reproduce information in this release should contact the Which? Endorsement Scheme team at endorsementscheme@which.co.uk. Find a trustworthy trader at trustedtraders.which.co.uk.