Southampton City Council has warned residents to be alert to 'imposters' posing as workers from a council-contracted company.

The council works with a number of contractors with regards to road and maintenance works – one of those is construction company Balfour Beatty.

While Balfour Beatty vans are a common sight in Southampton, on Monday Southampton City Council claimed people posing as workers were knocking the doors of residents in Woolston, offering them services.

The council has assured residents that it would not require any access to residents’ homes and advised residents to contact police if they spotted the bogus doorknockers.

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A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: “We were made aware of an allegation of people stating that they were from Balfour Beatty, that obviously were not.

“This came through Southampton City Council’s customer team and came to us on Friday afternoon, June 14. 

“We have, as you’d expect, taken this very seriously.

“Our team would never require access to people’s homes, nor would they go door to door offering any type of service.

“The only time that we’d knock doors would be out of courtesy to advise of our works or perhaps asking people to move their vehicles to undertake necessary highway investigations or repairs.

“It is our understanding that the imposters were offering services to people, I’m afraid we are not able to quantify what service was being offered.  

“Naturally, we have advised the member of the public to contact the police and have spoken to our teams regarding this to ensure that they keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour.”

The council has stated that any resident who experiences any further incidents from the bogus doorknockers should immediately close the door and contact the council and the police.