A BLIND man and his son have been conned out of nearly £1,000 by rogue gardeners.

Jason Mussett, 45, of First Chase, West Mersea, lives with his blind father, Harry, 83, and helps to care for him.

Harry asked a company based in the Colchester area to cut the grass and tidy their garden.

They ended up paying far more than quoted for the work and were put under extraordinary pressure to hand over more cash.

This included an extortionate call-out fee, having their home searched for jewellery to pay and being driven to a bank to extend their overdraft.

Jason said: “They originally quoted my dad £500, but by the morning when they arrived, my dad had already parted with an £80 call-out fee.

“They kept adding money on and in the end they quoted £2,000. A young man in charge told me to get a loan to pay for the extra costs.

“I said I didn’t have that kind of money and so he asked if we had any gold to sell.

“I said no but he had gone up to the bedroom to look as I found the room ransacked.”

Pensioner Harry, who has been registered blind for five years, gave them £200 and the gardeners accompanied Jason to the bank to get out a £150 overdraft.

In total, they handed over £930 to the gardeners.

They have reported the incident to the police and Trading Standards.

Jason said: “They left a mess and no-one has come back to clean it.

“They robbed my dad of the little money he had left.

“We have barely no food in the house and have been left penniless until next week.”

Mr Mussett is unemployed, but does not claim benefits because he gets a small amount of money from his father for looking after him.

Roger Walters, county councillor responsible for Trading Standards, urged residents to consider using the Buy With Confidence scheme when looking for contractors to carry out work.

He said: “We would always advise residents to obtain at least three quotations before agreeing to any contract and to sit down with the business to put together a formal plan of what is required or expected for the price agreed.

“Money should never be paid up front, but in stages so that any problems can be sorted before the full amount is handed over.”

For more information in regard to Buy With Confidence visit www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk

The Gazette spoke to a member of staff at the gardening company the Mussett’s used and were given a number for the manager, but we did not receive a response. We will continue to try to make contact or will name the company regardless.