Bogus worker alert (From Warrington Guardian)

Bogus worker alert

POLICE have issued a warning to Winsford residents about bogus officials following two incidents in the town on Tuesday last week.

The first happened just before 11am in Churchill Parkway, off Queensway, and involved a dark-skinned male of Oriental appearance calling at a house and posing as a council official.

The man is described as being aged between 40 and 50 and wearing a bottle green jumper with a luminous vest over it.

The second incident took place just after 2pm in Wheelock Drive. This time two men, who were in a K-registration Vauxhall Astra, called at a house and said that they were conducting a survey on refuse collection.

One man stayed in the car, but the other man is described as white, in his late 30s, 5ft 8in tall, with short, dark hair and a moustache.

At the time he was wearing a bright green jacket which had the word Cleanaway on the back. Cleanaway is a genuine company, but none of its workers were in the area at the time.

Likewise, checks with Vale Royal Borough Council revealed that none of its workers were in the area either.

Crime prevention officer Phil Woods said: "This just proves the point that you cannot take it for granted that just because someone is wearing a fluorescent jacket they are a council worker or other official.

"Do not take anyone at their word. Always check their identification."

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