'He seemed trustworthy, his reviews were excellent - then he completely blindsided us'

A cowboy builder left families thousands of pounds out of pocket after they were enticed by glowing reviews which had actually been written by his friends and family. Three of Billee Hopkinson's victims have spoken out after the rogue trader was jailed for 20 months.

A judge said Hopkinson, 35, "moved from victim to victim with ease" despite having no building qualifications and his firm Ultra Restore Ltd being on the brink of bankruptcy, LancsLive reports. Annabel Isherwood and her husband used Trust A Trader and found Preston based Hopkinson, attracted by his positive reviews.

She and her husband wanted an extension to their home in Clayton Brook, Lancashire, to include an orangery, wrap around extension and porch. Hopkinson visited the house and provided quotes for the work, asking for deposits to be paid and promising a start date of November 2021.

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He assured Annabel the work would be completed by the time she returned to work following her maternity leave. What he failed to mention was that he had no building qualifications, and his firm was on the brink of bankruptcy.

"We'd never had building work done before," Annabel said. "I suppose we were a bit naïve but he seemed trustworthy and his reviews were excellent. We thought we had done our due diligence."

The start date came around and Annabel looked forward to the first stage of the build, the orangery, being completed by Christmas. "It would have been amazing", she said.

Hopkinson knocked holes in the walls, leaving them exposed to the elements, but the family thought it would be short term discomfort to create the home of their dreams. But before long, concerns began to niggle in