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Here are just some of the tradespeople you have recommended this week. Click on the company names to view their ProblemSolved profiles:

• JBS services, Corgi registered, trustworthy plumbing and bathroom installation services. Based in SE London, covering London. Call 0208 855 0361

• Ashmark Roofing, professional, quality roofing company offering a variety of services. Based in N London, covering London. Call 020 8882 8812

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The Daily Star has started a campaign this week to help builders who are struggling in the industry.

According to the tabloid, builders are finding it hard to get work because people can’t afford to build new homes or even improve their existing ones. It also claims that companies are beginning to lay off staff and that the situation could become as bad as in the early 1990’s.

So what is the Daily Star doing to solve this ever increasing problem? Sending some of their top Page 3 girls to building sites across the country of course! Winners of the competition will also receive a £500 tab behind the bar of their local pub.

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Gordon Brown has become one of the latest politicians to throw his weight behind the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) “Building a Greener Britain” campaign, which is looking at the role of the construction industry in bringing about a low carbon built environment.

In a statement the Prime Minister said:

"I am pleased to see such positive and pro-active work being undertaken by the FMB.  I welcome the contribution your campaign will make to support the building industry to build and retrofit homes to higher environmental standards, whilst highlighting the important contribution the construction industry can have in supporting our efforts to tackle climate change.  I wish the FMB well with their campaign."

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A man from the Crawley area who worked as a plumber for 25 years has died from lung cancer following exposure to asbestos.

Ron Rose, who worked for G W Hitchcock Ltd from 1948 to 1971, was diagnosed in 2007 after visiting the doctor after complaining of back pain. Mr Rose had to stop caring for his sick wife as a result of the mesothelioma brought on by the exposure.

The coroner that examined Mr Rose’s body said: "He became exposed to asbestos during one particular project working at a petrol station. Workers were sawing sheets of material, thought to contain asbestos, in a closed area.

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A firm of plumbers in Oxford have been targeted by animal rights activists after working on Oxford University’s animal testing laboratory.

The slogan “Drop Oxford Uni” has been sprayed on the shutters of Steve Rusk Plumbers in Oxford. The Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the group which has claimed responsibility for the attack on an American website, oppose the animal testing laboratory which is owned and run by the university. Police are asking for anyone who has any information to get in contact.

To search for reliable tradespeople in your local area, visit ProblemSolved.

A director of a building firm in Bristol has warned people using the internet to be wary of death threats via email.

Andrew Sawyer, the boss of Buildtec, received an email claiming that he would be killed by an assassin if he didn’t pay $1,500 immediately and a further $2,000 at a later date. The email was later shown to be a fake but could prove to be very alarming to vulnerable or elderly internet users.

To search for reliable tradespeople in your local area, visit ProblemSolved.

For Alison Cork’s take on recent money matters have a look at her latest article on Orange’s property pages. This month Alison discusses who is to blame for the excessive borrowing of the last few years. Is it the banks, the Government or us? To read the article, click here.

To search for reliable tradespeople in your local area, visit ProblemSolved.

An apprentice plumber, whose friends pleaded with him not to drive his car after consuming 11 pints, has been banned from driving.

Scott Parker from Worcester drank four pints of Fosters before driving to the next pub and quaffing a further seven pints. After spotting damage to road signs, Parker was stopped by the police and breathalysed. The test revealed that he had 94mcg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath, well over the legal limit of 25 mcg.

He has been disqualified from driving for three years and is subject to a 12 month community order.

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A pensioner in his eighties from Stanks in Yorkshire was trapped in his house for six weeks because of building works that surrounded his home.

Former lorry driver Frank Bullock was made housebound after builders who were working on a site next door, dug a channel outside his driveway that prevented access for his wheelchair.

82 year old Frank can now leave his house after an inquiry into the situation was made by the Yorkshire Evening Post. The hole preventing Mr Bullock from leaving his has been tarmacked over.

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It seems that the search for a reliable builders, plumbers and electricians is proving increasingly difficult north of the border. New figures from Consumer Direct in Scotland reveal that there has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of complaints against tradesmen this year.

CDS received 1,545 complaints in the first three months of this year, with the total value of the work involved in these complaints rising by almost £600,000. Building work complaints totalled more than £1.8 million, followed by those about fitted kitchens (£1.8 million) and fitted bathrooms (nearly £800,000).

Gordon Macdonald, the manager of CDS, said: “There’s no foolproof way of avoiding problems, but you need to do your homework: agree clear terms with the trader, and, if things go wrong, check your rights and take prompt action.”

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CORGI, the gas safety watchdog, is warning householders to be vigilant about chimneys and flues becoming blocked.

Appliances should be switched off if there is any chance that building work may have jammed a flue and a registered installer should be contacted before switching them on again.

The warning comes after the tragic death of Robert Schenker who died from carbon monoxide poisoning after poor workmanship by a builder blocked his chimney.

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Four builders from the Dartford area have been accused of targeting the elderly and vulnerable and allegedly conning one man out of £75,000.

The rogue tradesmen cold-called their victims telling them that their properties needed urgent building repairs. They are then accused of quoting extortionate prices for work that was shoddy or incomplete. The four men, said to be led by William Smith of Greenhithe, are on trial this week at Canterbury Crown Court.

The jury heard one story about how the men conned one man who had learning disabilities out of more than £75,000. The victim met Smith in 2004 and was told that his chimney needed re-pointing and that a downpipe need repairing. Smith charged the man £12,500 for two week’s work. The problem was only picked up on four years later by a suspicious bank manager.

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Here at ProblemSolved, we accept that you have to take the rough with the smooth. We know that not every single tradesman will perform well on every single job. We therefore appreciate and value bad reviews just as much as the good ones.

And according to a recent article in New Media Age, this isn’t a bad way of going about things. Brian Dargan, the Head of Planning at Digitas, says that by “embracing negativity”, websites can get people to trust them and see them as a more honest environment. The fact that a site places equal importance on positive and negative reviews can lead to a more “authentic” experience for the consumer.

To read the article in full and to find out more information, click here.

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Exposing and warning the general public about cowboy tradesmen is an issue very close to ProblemSolved’s heart. By letting the general public share their views online, we hope that we are doing our bit to help the cause.

To address this issue further, ProblemSolved is working with TV company Ricochet (producers of C4 hit series Supernanny) for a new TV show.  The new series, running later this year on Five, will come to the aid of members of the public who have been stung by rogue traders and help them get the job done properly. 

So, if you have fallen prey to poor workmanship or unscrupulous builders, get in contact by emailing consumeraffairs@ricochet.co.uk or call 01273 224829 for the consumer affairs show team.

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We have all heard about the great Polish invasion of Britain. But with an estimated 1 million Poles leaving for the UK since the country joined the EU in 2004, Poland is now suffering from a shortfall of workers, particularly in the construction industry.

Due to this mass exodus of builders and plumbers, thousands of vacancies exist that need to be filled. The Polish government is planning a large media ad campaign in the UK in an attempt to lure them back. On top of these ads, government officials are handing out brochures in popular Polish haunts abroad and are set to launch an official website to give information for emigrants looking for further information.

To search for reliable builders and pulmbers in your local area, visit ProblemSolved.