Cold-caller no-go schemes set up

The zones will help protect the elderly and vulnerable

Three new No Cold Calling Zones have been set up in the Furness area of Cumbria in a bid to clamp down on doorstep crime.

Trading standards officers and the police have joined forces for the initiative, which follows a series of bogus caller scams.

The zones cover West Shore Park and Vickerstown on Walney Island and Tyson Square in Ulverston.

They are identified by stickers in household windows and by street signs.

Residents have also been given information on how to deal with cold callers should the signs be ignored.

Elsewhere, zones have been shown to reduce doorstep crime, with trials involving more than 1,000 across the UK since 2005 resulting in falls of up to 80% in over all crime and distraction theft.

Phil Ashcroft, head of Cumbria Trading Standards, said: "Cheating elderly and vulnerable people out of their money in their own homes has got to be one of the nastiest scams going.

"Criminals posing as cold callers tend to target homes with visible clues such as overgrown gardens, peeling paintwork, handrails or wheelchair access ramps so creating No Cold Calling Zones makes perfect sense."