A used car dealer has criticised Trading Standards after being fined in a fraud case.

Andrew Norris (55), who runs R&L Cars in Seend in Wiltshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud which included faking a service book for a car he bought from an auction in Poole.

As the sole director of R&L, he was ordered to pay a total of £6,079 by Swindon magistrates on March 20.

The Ford Focus was sold to him with paperwork saying that the car had a 72,000-mile warranty, even though it had actually done closer to 90,000 miles, and Norris questioned why this wasn't taken further by Trading Standards, reports the Gazette and Herald, and the people who sold him the car with incorrect mileage weren’t prosecuted.

“I do admit to creating the logbook,” he said.

“When I bought it I was told it had done 72,000. This would be the same if anyone had bought it from auction. When you see the warranty on the screen you take it for fact.”

Norris sold the Ford Focus and told the private buyer that the car had done 72,000 miles. It wasn’t until the buyer part-exchanged the car at a garage that Trading Standards were contacted.

“When I spoke to Trading Standards they said it stopped with me. I don’t understand why they aren’t chasing up the people who put the car up for auction as well.”

Yvonne Bennet, Wiltshire Council trading standards manager, said: "When things like this come to our attention we investigate as much as we can. The complaint that came to us was about Mr Norris' sale of the car, not about his purchase of it.

 

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