Cowboy builder tore my home apart and disappeared off the face of the Earth with £14k

A rogue builder tore Sheri Ingram's home apart and "disappeared off the face of the Earth" with £14,000.

In February, Lee Slocombe, from Swansea, was jailed for six years after defrauding nine victims of £400,000 - with this his latest conviction in a decade of offending.

The UK government announced in August plans to give people greater protections against "cowboy builders" through a database of trusted traders.

Ingram, from Cardiff, welcomed it, but questioned where the incentive would be for tradespeople to sign up to the voluntary scheme.

Another couple who were "scarred for life" by a rogue trader who left them £30,000 out of pocket said it would give more confidence to homeowners.

"He (Slocombe) was recommended to us by a serving police officer who my ex knew," Ingram said.

Slocombe's offending covered a period of 11 years, and he even targeted nine people to carry out work on their homes when on bail using a false name.

It began in 2015 after Ingram and her now ex-partner bought a house in Aberbeeg, Blaenau Gwent, which they planned to renovate and move into.