A plumber who traded under multiple names and was verbally aggressive to customers over the phone has been jailed following a Trading Standards investigation.

Jasdeep Singh Randhawa traded under names including Direct Maintenance Group Ltd, Cover Sure Maintenance Ltd and Cambridge Plumbing.

He directed a network of plumbers across the UK and complaints centred on poor workmanship and being overcharged for work.

When customers called the plumbers back to put things right, the business would charge them a second time, and when they challenged the bill, Randhawa would become verbally aggressive.

An investigation into his business by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Trading Standards and Nation Standards’ Tri Region investigation team, found that Randhawa had engaged in commercial practices that contravened the requirements of professional diligence.

This was contrary to regulations eight and 15 of the consumer protection for unfair trading regulations 2008.

On December 10 2021 at Peterborough Crown Court, Randhawa pleaded guilty to two charges of the above and was sentenced to eight months imprisonment.

Trish Burls, chair of the NTS Tri Regional investigation team, said: “Officers from our team were able to provide significant evidence gathering support to Trading Standard and officers from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

"It resulted in bringing this investigation to a successful conclusion.

“This case reinforces the value of success of partnership working between local authority Trading Standards services and regional assets such as regional investigation teams.”

Cllr Tom Sanderson, chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s communities, social mobility and inclusion committee, said: “This sentence sends a clear message that criminal trading practices won’t be tolerated in Cambridgeshire.

“We are lucky enough to have a wealth of honest, hard-working tradespeople in our county and such enforcement work is vital to ensure that rogues don’t take work away from these tradespeople.

“In the longer term, it’s also vital that they don’t damage the confidence people have in these vital trades.”