An elderly widow needed a leaky skylight fixing - a 'rogue trader' fleeced her for £7k

A 'rogue trader' who fleeced an elderly widow out of almost £8,000 after he was called out to fix a leaky skylight at her home has been jailed.

Christopher Parr - who traded from Salford as 'Up and Over Roofing and Building' - told her a section of her roof needed to be replaced and removed tiles, a council said.

The pensioner, who was 85 at the time, 'felt she had no alternative but to agree to the work' and made five payments into Parr's bank account totalling £7,800, Salford council added.

But the town hall said he failed to return to complete the work and cited 'excuses' including that his child and wife were seriously ill and that he had been diagnosed with cancer. As a result, the woman's home in Salford was left exposed to the elements over winter months.

The council said she had to pay another trader to reinstall the roof, at a cost of £4,777, and shell out a further £300 to decorate a room after the roof leaked because Parr, 36, had removed the tiles. Salfordcouncil's Trading Standards team was alerted and launched an investigation.

At Preston Crown Court on Friday, Parr, of Filey Drive, Salford, was jailed for two years and three months and ordered to pay the pensioner compensation of £12,887 - covering what he charged her and what she had to pay to fix her home. The council said Parr gave the woman 'many excuses over three to four months as to why he couldn't return'. He first went to her home in November, 2023.

In a statement released after the sentencing hearing, the council said: "The victim's property was left exposed to the elements throughout the winter months, apart from an ineffective membrane, until she realised that Parr was not going to return.

"She then had to pay another trader to reinstall the