The Nottingham Evening Post has scooped a national award in recognition of its tough stance on tackling doorstep conmen.

The newspaper's Fair 'n' Square campaign, which calls for a complete ban on cold-calling by property repair salesmen, has been named Campaign of the Year by the Trading Standards Institute.

Editor Graham Glen collected the award at a ceremony in Manchester, where judges praised the paper's fight as "an extremely well-branded campaign to tackle doorstep crime and rogue traders".

Graham said: "We have always prided ourselves on being a campaigning newspaper, fighting for the rights of our readers who have been ripped off.

"Our efforts do not end here. We will continue to expose conmen and to call for new legislation where it is needed to help protect people across Notts."

The Post launched its campaign after a string of cases involving Notts residents, mostly the elderly and vulnerable, who had been overcharged for shoddy home improvements work.

In many cases victims were driven to the bank to withdraw thousands of pounds in cash by rogue traders who then disappeared.

The Post campaign has earned praise from Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Consumer Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, and was nominated for the award by the city and county councils' Trading Standards departments.

Caraline Ryan, of Nottingham Trading Standards, said: "This reflected an important message and proved that by working together we can show what we are trying to do for consumers.

"The existing legislation is ineffective - nobody wants to see people ripped off but consumers who are elderly and vulnerable often do not know their rights."

Tony Northcott, TSI leading officer for public relations, said: "It was extremely difficult to pick a winner because there were so many great examples of consumer journalism. I think this demonstrates how most Trading Standards professionals are working with their media at a local level."

Other winners at the event included the BBC's Watchdog programme, Radio 4's You and Yours and ITV's consumer editor Chris Choi.

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