The residents of Crail Close and Thorpe Close, Wokingham are to become the first in the borough to take part in the newly launched 'No Cold Calling Zone'.
The scheme which is aimed at reducing unwanted cold calling and increasing awareness of doorstep crime is managed by West Berkshire and Wokingham Trading Standards Service working with Thames Valley Police and local communities.
In order to be considered for a ‘zone’ to be introduced there needs to be either an identified doorstep crime hotspot or a clear demand from local residents. In this case, a survey of residents showed that of those that responded, 93% were in favour of the zone.
Signage will indicate to people considering cold calling that the residents of a particular area do not wish to trade in this way. Each household will also be issued with an advice leaflet and door sticker. Cold calling when a householder has indicated that they do want it could be considered an aggressive commercial practice and a breach of consumer protection laws.
Cllr UllaKarin Clark, executive member for community development, said: "This is a good example of the Trading Standards Service working with the community to meet the needs of that community. The idea of the scheme is to allow people to exercise personal choice. In this case the residents of Crail Close and Thorpe Close have indicated that they do not wish to deal with cold callers."
Resident of Crail Close, Patrick Allan, said: "It can be really annoying being disturbed by cold callers. The builders kindly planted a tree in every front garden and we get regular visits from people trying to convince us that our trees need pruning and shaping. We have also had unwanted callers wanting to clean the drives.
"There are the many sales people trying to sell us something we don't need, the list goes on. The ‘No Cold Calling Zone’ should make it clear that the residents don’t want to be cold called and it lets us have a bit of peace in our own homes."
Anyone wishing to know more about ‘No Cold Calling Zones’ should contact the Trading Standards helpline on (01635) 519 930.
