A secret video today exposes cowboy repairmen who have been ripping off householders in York.

A scene from the horror film

The footage reveals that SEVEN out of nine repairers who came to fix various home appliances were rogues out to fleece their customers.

Our picture (left) shows a repairman unnecessarily taking a video away to his workshop, when it could have been fixed on the spot in moments. In another case, a man who mended a video merely by flicking a switch on the back charged £35 - and claimed he had overhauled the machine.

The sting was set up by trading standards officers at City of York Council, who installed hidden cameras in an empty council home. They then "broke" various electrical appliances and invited electricians picked out of Yellow Pages, Evening Press classified columns and the Thompson directory to come round.

A trading standards officer posing as a housewife accepted the repairmen at their word. The video footage shows traders inflating their fees by inventing extraordinary explanations for what were actually straightforward faults.

The revelations have shocked city councillors. Coun Martin Brumby said: "One of the worst aspects is that 99 per cent of people would not have the foggiest idea if they were being treated dishonestly or not."

No legal action is to be taken against the traders this time but council chiefs have sent stern warning letters to the individuals involved. And they plan to repeat the exercise in the near future.

Graham Briggs, of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, said: "If you go through the small ads it can be the luck of the draw. There is no legal requirement - and we think there should be - for people setting themselves up as electrical engineers to be properly accredited."

Pulling plug on video cowboys

Sam Greenhill watches extraordinary footage of rogue repairmen at work

The video was on the blink - though all that was wrong with it was a switch on the back in the wrong position.

But that didn't stop a conman repairer taking advantage of the situation when he was asked to fix it by a trading standards officer posing as a housewife.

He took it away overnight, brought it back the next day and, when she asked what the problem had been, he mumbled something about "engaging the tape" and "the heads not spinning properly".

All he had done was flick a test switch on the back that is used to tune the VCR to the TV - and charged £35 for the job.

He was one of seven crafty repairmen who came to fix electrical appliances in a York home fitted with secret cameras by trading standards officers.

The resulting video reveals the extent to which York repairmen are happy to rip off their customers.

In one case, officers had stuffed a small piece of paper through the video slot on a VCR and asked a repairer to fix it. As the footage reveals, he decided there was a "serious carriage problem" and took the machine away for repair.

Even though all he had done was remove the piece of paper, the sly trader claimed he had fitted a spare part, and charged £33 accordingly.

Another VCR "expert" took the machine away and kept it for five weeks. The fault this time was a snapped drive belt, which would cost a few pounds to replace. But the repairer claimed he had fitted "new kit" and slapped down a bill for £90.30. He even suggested replacing the drum for £150 when in fact it was in good condition. A brand new VCR could be purchased for far less money.

Another cheeky repairmen was called to fix the fridge - and took a fuse out of the kettle to mend it.

All trading standards engineers had done was disconnect the live wire in the fridge's electrical plug. The repairer soon discovered what was wrong, but claimed instead that the machine had a dodgy thermostat, which he could replace.

After taking his time with the simplest of jobs, he claimed a new thermostat had been fitted and fleeced his customer £34.

Worse still, the bungling "professional" then stuck his screwdriver into the wall socket - blowing the electrics in the house.

Another blundering repairman called to mend a cooker blew up one of the rings by mistake, then blamed the damage on the original fault.

Only two repairers filmed in the operation came out smelling of roses.

Both had come to mend the washing machine and they correctly diagnosed the fault, fixed it in a short time and charged just £25 for the job.

But the fact that the majority of the traders tested produced a catalogue of mistakes and con tricks has horrified city councillors and trading standards chiefs.

Although technical problems with the video mean no legal action will be taken against the traders this time, they hope it will send a shot across the bows of corrupt repairmen in York.

And they have pledged to repeat the exercise in the near future - next time with possible prosecutions.

see COMMENT 'Poor service sparks concern'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.