Hampshire Trading Standards has received several alarming reports whereby residents have been approached by cold callers offering to do roofing or drainage work.  Attempts have been made to get the resident to pay using their bank card and a hand held device has been produced by the cold caller / Trader into which the resident puts their bank card and PIN.  In other cases the residents have been told they are due compensation for any inconvenience, which can be put back onto their bank card using the handheld device.  

Once the callers have the bank card and PIN details they have gone on to withdraw unauthorised amounts from the residents’ accounts.  It would appear that handheld devices may also have been recording the PIN numbers entered by the resident.
Although the incidents reported so far involve roofing and drainage work, other home improvement sectors may also be used as a method of getting card and PIN details.  Therefore, Trading Standards are warning the public to be vigilant, and never pay or accept refunds from cold callers using hand held bank card payment machines. 
NEVER DISCLOSE YOUR PIN TO ANYBODY. 
This warning applies Countywide.  
Members of the Buy With Confidence scheme are fully audited to ensure their trading practices are legal, honest and fair. All members have been checked for trustworthiness and compliance with consumer protection laws. Details can be obtained by telephoning 01962 833620, emailing buy.with.confidence@hants.gov.uk or via the Buy With Confidence website. 
Traders who agree work at the home of an individual or at a place other than their usual business premises are required by law to provide consumers with a Notice of Right to Cancel, which gives a 14 day cooling off period from the date the work starts. Even if work has started, there is still a legal right to cancel, although some payment may be required for materials. 
To inform Trading Standards about traders offering services where false claims are suspected, report the matter to our partners at the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06. Please try to obtain a name and address for the company.
Doorstep Crime can also be reported to Hampshire Police on their non-urgent number 101 or dial 999 if you feel threatened or intimidated.

Hampshire Trading Standards has recently been made aware, by Hampshire Police, of a cold call involving a Vivid Housing tenant.
The tenant received a visit from 2 men who claimed to be from Vivid Housing and had been sent the property to clean the guttering.  They stated that it was an annual requirement and asked for £65 to do the work.  When questioned further, the men said they would speak to Vivid Housing’s Head Office and get back to the tenant.  Both left, and no further contact has been received by the tenant.
Although this incident involved traders falsely claiming to be from Vivid Housing and was in the Basingstoke area, the warning applies to all Housing Association tenants Countywide.  Any tenants receiving such cold calls are advised to contact their Housing Association directly for further advice and guidance.
Members of the Buy With Confidence scheme are fully audited to ensure their trading practices are legal, honest and fair. All members have been checked for trustworthiness and compliance with consumer protection laws. Details can be obtained by telephoning 01962 833620, emailing buy.with.confidence@hants.gov.uk or via the Buy With Confidence website.
Traders who agree work at the home of an individual or at a place other than their usual business premises are required by law to provide consumers with a Notice of Right to Cancel, which gives a 14 day cooling off period from the date the work starts. Even if work has started, there is still a legal right to cancel, although some payment may be required for materials.
To inform Trading Standards about traders offering services where false claims are suspected, report the matter to our partners at the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06. Please try to obtain a name and address for the company.
Doorstep Crime can also be reported to Hampshire Police on their non-urgent number 101 or dial 999 if you feel threatened or intimidated.

ONLINE SHOPPING - Beware of phishing emails from unknown shops, offering good deals as part of Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Criminals can clone websites and post them under different web addresses so they look official. Do your research, have others used the site & what was their experience. Search for both the website address and the name that appears on the website's branding as the two may be different. If different reviews come back for both, this should be considered suspicious. If in doubt look at NCSC guidance for online shopping www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/shopping-online-securely

Example picture below: Cloned website whose address is not related to the shops name.

​Message Sent By
James Adnitt (Police, Cyber Protect Officer, Hampshire )

We will be singing 3 songs during the Lantern Parade on Saturday at the library and at Netley Court Care Home. The words can be found in the attachment below. 

We would like to say a massive thank you to the Co-op and to everyone who chose the new play area at Butlocks Heath as their local community scheme to support each time they shopped in the co-op. 

Your generosity has meant that a total of £5'804.98 was presented to us earlier today in the Station Road co-op. This money makes a huge difference as the new play area was paid for by a combination of Developer's Contributions and from the our ear marked reserves. We will now use this money and leave this amount in the ear marked reserves to put towards the future replacement of the play area on the Station Road Recreation Ground.  

The Parish Office is pleased to be a registered drop off point for this years Wave 105 Mission Christmas Toy Appeal. The appeal aims to help ensure that every child in the South receives a gift this Christmas.  

We will be accepting gifts until Wednesday 11th December if you would like to drop any off. 

Each year the Hampshire Association of Local Councils (HALC) award a Council the prestigious title of Local Council of the Year for Hampshire at their AGM.

The award is in recognition of the fantastic work that is done across Hampshire by the many Town and Parish Councils. All Town and Parish Councils consist of volunteers who give up their time to improve their areas and work hard to try and ensure that each decision made is in the best interests for everyone that it may affect within their local community. 

We are incredibly proud to announce that this award has been added to the 2 awards we won in the Village of the Year Awards in September. These were for Best Community Initiative and Inspirational Individual for Councillor Simon Guillan and also the 2 runners up places in the Best Community Event and for Community Engagement. 

It is the first time that we have won the Local Council of the Year award and is testament to the hard work and many voluntary hours put in by your Councillors to try and make Hound the best place to live. 

The NHS are launching a new campaign - USE THE RIGHT SERVICE which will help people access the correct NHS service. 

Use the Right Service promotes alternatives to A&E for non-emergencies, such as home care, pharmacies, 111 and urgent Treatment Centres (UTCS) and is designed to support the reduction of pressure on A&E at Southampton General Hospital. 

Use the Right Service has its own website – https://usetherightservice.com/– and has been formed
through a collaboration of 10 partners across the region:

• Care UK
• Hampshire County Council
• Partnering Health Limited (PHL)
• Solent NHS Trust
• South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
• Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group
• Southampton City Council
• Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
• West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group

The NHS staff are very keen to ensure that people access the right NHS service, receive the highest quality care and to ensure that A&E and 999 services are used for those that urgently need them.