POLICE have issued an incident alert after a spate of aggressive door to door salesmen targeting Alcester and surrounding villages.
Police say there was a group of the men selling items out of a bag who became abusive when turned away by householders.
All the incidents happened on the afternoon of Saturday, February 24 two of the men were described as white one with blond hair and the other with ginger hair.
One could be as young as 16. They both carried bags, one red, the other black and both wore dark hoodies and jeans.
On one occasion they showed a card with the charity ‘Helping Hands’ on it but police say they had no connection with the Alcester branch of the organisation.
Police stopped one of the men in Great Alne and reported him for not having a Pedlars Licence. His bag and its contents were also seized.
Shortly after this the gang combing Alcester were picked up by a silver car from Hopkins Precinct and driven away.
Police are now appealing for anyone who knows the registration number of that vehicle or has photographs of the men to contact them.
A Police spokesperson said: “Firstly, thank you to the members of the public that phoned in on Saturday regarding the men going door to door.
“From what we have been told they took exception to those that turned them away and were quite rude and abusive.
“There was obviously a group of them as we had reports from Great Alne and Alcester at the same time.
The man in Great Alne was stopped by police and reported for not having a Pedlars Licence.
“Cold calling to sell goods door to door is not illegal, however, people engaged in such activity should be in possession of a Pedlar’s Licence.
“We always advise not to buy from cold callers.
Remember, if no one in an area buys, then the sellers are less likely to return.
“You may be robust enough to send such callers on their way, but more vulnerable people in the area may not be, so please look out for your neighbours and friends. ”
Anyone with information on the gang is asked to contact Police at [email protected]
