Rogue roofer's shoddy work on Coulby and Blackhall homes lands him with court bill

A dodgy roofer has been ordered to repay over £3,500 for carrying out shoddy work on homes.

Christopher Wase was operating on behalf of his business CW Roofing Services, when he approached families at their addresses. His sub-par work finally came to light when Durham County Council was approached by a family in Blackhall Colliery, just north of Hartlepool.

Billingham man Wase quoted £3,800 to carry out repair works to their roof and the family paid a £500 deposit. Wase and four other men then started work at the property.

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It wasn't long before Wase requested another £3,485 to purchase the materials needed, then left the property and did not return. The other men continued to work on the property, but accidentally set fire to a bay window, then left mid-works.

The family contacted Wase and requested a refund, which was not paid, and the works were left incomplete. A surveyor, who was hired to assess the property, confirmed that the repairs had been carried out by inexperienced people and were not completed to a satisfactory standard.

The council's trading standards team took legal action against Wase, now of Castle Gardens, Paisley, and the works carried out were assessed to be worth in the region of £400.

Coulby family

Peterlee Magistrates Court heart that, before this, Wase had approached another family in Coulby Newham about a missing tile in their roof and discussed a quote of £5,000 to repair it. Wase carried out some work at the property, then requested a further deposit of £1,000 for the remainder of the works.

He advised the family that in addition to the deposit, he needed another £1,200 for materials before he could start the work. When Wase did not show up on the agreed date, the family sent several messages to Wase to ask why the work had not been carried out, to which he said he was on holiday.

The family requested a refund of £2,200, and the matter was taken to court. Peterlee Magistrates' Court heard that Wase was ordered to pay £2,406.62, which remains unpaid.

Wase, who was registered to an address in Billingham at the time of offending, pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching trading regulations and unfair trading. The 38-year-old was ordered to pay £3,580 compensation to the family in Blackhall Colliery.

The court noted that a live court order remains in place for the previously unpaid County Court compensation to the Coulby Newham family, so no further order was made for this case. Wase was also given 240 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months.

Gary Carr, Durham County Council's strategic regulation manager, said: "Rogue trading causes significant stress and disruption to residents who, in good faith, have trusted someone to come into their home and carry out work. Mr Wase broke this trust with two families and, as a result, faced serious legal consequences.

"We take reports of rogue trading very seriously and will investigate criminal allegations where it is suspected a trader has broken the law. We always recommend that people use an approved trader site when sourcing a tradesperson to carry out work on their property or garden. If anyone has concerns about the legitimacy of a tradesperson or rogue trader activity, we would encourage them to report it to our community protection service's trading standards officers or the Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133."

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