TWO rogue traders who charged elderly and vulnerable people across the borough extortionate prices for a "sham" roof coating service have been jailed for five years each.

Judge Martin Walsh at Wolverhampton Crown Court said conmen Alan Wilson and Christopher Wilkes duped their retired customers in a “frenzy of commission lead fraud”.

He said told the court they made grossly exaggerated claims for a product they knew “had little to commend it” and their sales staff had preyed on customers' fears.

One of the complainants was a 91-year-old Pedmore woman who was charged £13,000 to have her roof coated with the product which it was claimed was used by NASA to protect space shuttles from extreme temperatures.

The actual cost of the work on the woman’s Broughton Road home should have been no more than £1,050 - the prosecution said, while the cost of a new roof would have been just over £9,000.

After the case Christopher King, principal trading standards officer with Dudley Council, said there were more than 2,700 victims in the scam nationwide and between 2010 and 2012 the two companies run by the pair had a turnover of £8.5million.

He said: "This has been a landmark prosecution and we are clearly delighted with the result. This was serious fraud against old people who were isolated in the community and targeted during daylight hours.”

He said Wilson and Wilkes had traded as Therma Seal UK Ltd in Tamworth before it was closed down owing a massive debt to the Revenue and they then started Therma Seal (Thermal Coatings) Ltd to continue the same fraud.

The court heard a retired Sedgley woman was charged £1,875 by Therma Seal for work an expert ruled should have cost £788.

A Stourbridge woman was charged £3,300 for work that should have been £955 and a couple in Woodbury Road, Halesowen, were told the roof coating would cost them £4,465 for work that should have been £872.

A Wordsley man was given a bill for £3,888 when it should have been £955 and another man in the area was charged £2,400 for £788 work.

Mark Jackson, prosecuting, said the two men were engaged in professionally planned confidence fraud in which members of the public were conned into believing the paint would cut heat loss through the roof by up to 25 per cent.

It was a well executed scam, he said, adding that “lie after lie after lie” was told to victims whose average age was 74.

Wilson, aged 54, of Fazeley Road, Tamworth, and 45-year-old Wilkes, of Tamworth Lane, Solihull, both denied charges involving fraudulent trading.

But they were both convicted after the jury retired for three days to consider the evidence at the end of their two-month trial.

They knew the thermal paint did little to reduce heat loss, Mr Jackson said, but it did not stop them from making false claim after false claim - conning customers out of thousands of pounds.

The Judge, who further disqualified the two men from being company directors for eight years, said they were both experienced in direct sales to the public in the field of home improvements.

But they had been grossly dishonest with their aggressive sales tactics for a product they knew was a “complete sham” and the fraud had been conducted on a wide scale.

He stressed he had to pass a sentence that would not only punish the defendants but act as a deterrent for anyone else tempted to enter the world of confidence fraud and he added: "The public need and expect protection from rogue traders."

Saleswoman Julie Barrett was also found guilty on one count of fraud but is to return to court on April 1 for sentencing.

Councillor Rachel Harris, cabinet member responsible for trading standards at Dudley Council, said after the hearing: “This was a large scale fraud netting over £8million in three years involving a significant number elderly and vulnerable customers. To mis-sell a product with so many false claims is despicable, and it left many victims out of pocket by tens of thousands of pounds.

“As a trading standards service we work tirelessly to protect people from this type of confidence fraud, which must also cause an enormous amount of distress for the victims.

“The fact that this was a landmark case in the field of trading standards, tells its own story, but I am glad as a council we have been able to help bring these people to justice.”

Anyone wanting to report incidents of bogus callers in Dudley can call 01384 812045.