Episode 14 Cowboy Trap

We're travelling the length of Britain on a mission to rescue homeowners from cowboy builders.

He's just destroyed everything, everything we worked for, everything we wanted.

It's impossible to overestimate the damage these guys do.

Whether blatant amateurs or simply crooks, they not only mess up homes, they ruin lives, too.

What emotions would you say you feel towards the cowboy builder?

-To be honest...

-Really hate him.

-Do you?

-I don't understand what's going on.

-I don't think the builder does, to be honest.

We've got the Good Guys to help turn these houses from hell into heavenly homes.

That looks absolutely fantastic. There was no guttering across the whole span of this.

The felt was hanging off. Now it's one long length of guttering.

We're planning now for the future, which is what we didn't have before.

Anyone can call themselves a builder, so it's crucial to know how to spot a wrong 'un

and the next 45 minutes could help keep you out of the cowboy trap.

On today's Cowboy Trap, an extension which became the mother of all building bodges.

We just wanted a nice house.

And it didn't happen.

And two years after we rescued them, we catch up with cowboy builder victims in Shropshire

to see how they're doing now.

Hello, what's going on here? You've not got any more, have you?

-You what?! Are you joking with me, Donald?

-No.

'Our first cowboy trap saga takes place in a house in Southampton.

'Now Southampton has a number of claims to fame -

'its thriving port, its historic football team and, of course, its intense rivalry

'with neighbouring town Portsmouth, which Sotonians remind you is the second-largest city in Hampshire.'

The late, great Benny Hill was born here in Southampton

and his early days as a milkman

inspired his number one hit Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West.

Love him or hate him, these days his humour is somewhat out of style,

unlike your cowboy builder, the national joke that never seems to go out of fashion.

The unlucky cowboy builder victims in this three-bedroom end terrace certainly aren't laughing.

It's home to Dave and Denise Francis. Dave is an ambulanceman and Denise is a hairdresser.

No wonder Dave's hair is so well trimmed!

Dave and Denis, who both have previous partners, married in 2007.

We knew each other years ago and we met up when we both worked in the bakery.

We stayed as friends for a long time

and then when both relationships went wrong, we met up for a coffee

and it just went from there.

Two or three years later, we married in 2007.

And then we both realised

we both had a crush back in those days, but never did anything.

But we're together now, so I got the girl in the end.

Between them, Dave and Denise had one big family, which made for a happy, high-spirited home,

but one it soon became clear wasn't roomy enough.

The couple set their hearts on building an extension, perfect for when their grandchildren stay

and Denise would be able to work from home.

We had a big garden. So we'd extend to have a base for Denise to have an office

-to do her books et cetera.

-We wanted a drying room big enough for two washing machines,

one for my hairdressing.

The middle part of the room was to increase the family area

so the kids could play safely outside

and the adults could stay in the middle here.

-Dave and Denise appointed an architect who drew up some plans.

-He was very, very good.

He did all the measurements for us and we asked him generally

what sort of price would you expect for this sort of building?

He was quite happy to say, "The money you're looking at is around £22,000 for what you want."

Planning permission was granted and the couple borrowed money to finance their exciting project.

The next stage was finding a builder and a friend of Denise's suggested her boyfriend

who's in the construction business.

He came up, we showed him the plans.

And he said it would be at cost price. We wouldn't pay much over it.

He seemed to know what he was talking about. That was a good thing.

He also said he'd done a few other extensions this size and a few others that were a bit smaller.

The builder quoted £18,000 to create a single-storey extension to the back of the property,

which would include three separate rooms. That was for labour only.

The Francises agreed to pay for materials. Because he was a personal contact

and they were tempted by a cut-price deal, Dave and Denise went ahead without making the proper checks.

Take my advice.

That's no better than hearsay.

Dave and Denise's builder assured them it would take eight weeks

and work started in November 2007.

The Francises hadn't put a payment plan in place and it didn't take long to realise that was a mistake,

especially bearing in mind they were paying for materials.

He was asking my husband for £500 here, £500 there. It seemed to be every other day.

It wasn't just regular demands for cash that were a concern.

The project was proceeding at a snail's pace.

The builder was rarely on site and he always had an imaginative reason why.

One thing's for sure, Dave and Denise's builder had more than his fair share of bad luck.

Either materials hadn't arrived or he had accidents on other jobs,

his girlfriend was kicking off, his mother was taking over the business or his father was desperately ill.

He might have been a poor excuse for a builder, but when it came to making excuses, he was a master.

And the little work the builder was getting done was really shoddy.

They could see their dream project rapidly going downhill.

We got to the stage where we had the footings dug, walls built, the roof was on

and that's when the problems really started.

The extension wasn't being left secured or weathertight and rats got into the attic

because the cavity wall hadn't been sealed up. Dave and Denise wanted to point this out,

but that's not easy when your builder is as elusive as Lord Lucan.

He would say he'd be here at 7.30. 9 o'clock would come and he wouldn't be here.

We'd have rung him a couple of times, answerphone on.

He would then not appear for a whole week.

They started to get suspicious about where their cash was going.

They were getting invoices for materials that weren't turning up - at their house, anyway.

We paid for the bricks with a cheque, the cement was paid for with a cheque,

but the receipts were in other names.

We did hear through the grapevine that he was actually working on a couple of other projects.

Dave and Denise's worries continued to mount. The roof didn't seem up to scratch

and it was way behind schedule. The builder said he couldn't spend as much time as he'd like

because his critically-ill father had taken a turn for the worse.

He agreed that he'd taken on too much...

with his dad being ill.

His dad's still alive. He gave him three months to live. That was 2½ years ago.

A new completion date was agreed for August, 2009 -

20 months after the job started. I thought he said eight weeks?

Take my advice.

That should focus his attention.

Dave and Denise's problems went from bad to worse.

A Building Control officer turned up and said the roof wasn't right and needed completely re-done.

The roof might have been dodgy, but the builder's gift of the gab was in fine shape.

"It'll be done, it'll be done. Don't worry. Just need a bit more time. We'll be finished in a few weeks."

But, of course, that was just another lie.

Weeks came and weeks went and there was still no finishing line in sight.

The whole thing had become a mess. It felt impossible to get to the bottom of what was going on.

One thing was crystal clear - this so-called builder was completely out of his depth.

He had no idea how to complete the extension he'd promised to build in a couple of months,

but he'd never have to because, not surprisingly, one day he just disappeared.

He's never shown up again.

I've spoken to people. He moved house, changed his phone number.

He's just destroyed everything.

Everything we worked for, everything we wanted. We just wanted a nice house.

And it didn't happen.

It built up a big, big pressure. I'll be honest, it built up

to where we thought about leaving each other.

As if the Francis family hadn't been through enough, Denise went for medical tests

and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

About two years ago, I started getting pins and needles, numbness in my legs and feet and hands.

Basically, it got a little bit worse and it crept up to my torso.

They were doing tests and I had a couple of MRI scans

and though everything was going to be OK, but they've actually...

When Mum got her diagnosis we kind of bantered and joked,

but when she wasn't there, it was quite hard.

The terrible news meant that Denise desperately needed the extension to be completed.

It's more important than ever now for that to be fixed.

There is a time where I will be in a wheelchair later on

and I will need to be downstairs. I'll not be able to make it upstairs to go to sleep or to the toilet.

It's hard to know what to say. It's got to be one of the saddest stories we've ever come across.

How much misery can one family take?

If ever you needed proof that cowboy builders wreak havoc with lives AND homes, well, this is it.

But exactly how much havoc has this guy caused? What's the full extent of the bodge to be righted?

To find out, we sent independent building surveyor Ged Malloy to inspect the work.

He's been through it with a fine toothcomb and is about to fill me in with what he found.

I suspect they did this roof and thought, "Oh, bit of a problem here."

First item on the agenda, the dodgy roof.

-This roof is all over the show.

-It's an interesting roof, one I've not seen the likes of before.

-Basically, the joists are undersized.

-These joists, these timbers here, these are undersized?

They can't span the complete length of the room. It would just sag.

So what the builder has tried to do to alleviate that sagging

-is put in a multi-beam arrangement. There's three or four beams there, crossways.

-Let's take a look.

Look, he's got four beams going across to help support...

-I don't understand what's going on. It's a mess.

-I don't think the builder understands it!

'What an unbelievable bodge. It's all different levels

'so when it comes to fixing plasterboard on to make a ceiling, it'll be a total mess.

'Plus two lots of joists reduce the height of the room to 2 metres.

'That will feel claustrophobic.'

Sticking with the roof, the plywood on top of these joists, it's already rotting, isn't it?

You can see the mould growth there, due to all the water ingress.

A real problem. You can see closer here.

The size of the joists - undersized.

'That ply is saturated. It'll need to come off. Not surprising -

'the roof is leaking like a sieve.

'But it's not just high up that there are problems. Where's the floor screed on that?

'And check out the timber.'

They formed the opening, then started to measure it up.

"Oh, whoops! We've made the opening too big." So they've toshed in bits of timber around the edge,

with all gaps and not fixed properly, then fitted a frame to it. You can see bits of timber cut out.

-This is what I don't understand.

-Bodged.

-They've built it too big,

but even to the point of cutting the timbers, they didn't realise even then?

They cut the timbers for a normal-sized door without measuring how wide the door is.

What are you doing?!

Being a cowboy, that's what. The patio doors aren't even there.

This isn't secure, vermin can get in. It's an unsafe building site.

It's not a happy building site, no.

Not happy? Blooming miserable, if you ask me. The bricks and mortar are also in a sorry state

and, inside, the electrics look really dangerous.

There are exposed wires all over. And the blockwork defies belief.

Blockwork cracked at the top. Is there an uneven load on it or...?

I think it's probably just been laid, someone's hit it and left it there.

-That... You need to chop that out and stick another one in.

-Yes, a simple job,

-but you just don't leave that.

-No.

I think this builder was a bit cracked if you ask me.

Right, it's make your mind up time for Ged.

Looking around this whole site, you can see outside, inside.

From what you've seen here, Ged, how would you mark this builder out of ten?

The roof, I would give it no marks.

The internals, at best, five out of ten.

We can salvage some of the general structure. There's a lot of work, but the roof, in my opinion,

needs taking off and replacing.

Well, in a previous life I was a surveyor and my philosophy was if the lid wasn't right,

everything underneath was pretty much doomed.

Based on what Ged's just shown me, I'd give this a big, fat zero.

I mean, check out the evidence.

Loose cables, pathetic plastering,

a risible roof, bungled blockwork,

ugly slab floors, a wonky doorframe,

bodged beams, seriously compromised ceilings,

missing doors... Need I go on?

And Dave and Denise had handed over £23,000 to the builder and paid for materials.

Ouch.

A crime against building with victims that are only too apparent.

If ever we needed the Good Guys, this was it.

And here's head honcho Tim Bumstead and his merry men entering the fray.

So much needs doing just to make this place watertight and secure, Dave and Denise are chipping in.

First things first, dodgy beams removed.

Not forgetting even dodgier blockwork.

How nice - a builder who seems to know what he's doing.

The external wall is attended to, as are the internal walls. It's a great start,

but can they get Denise and Dave's dreams back on track? Only time will tell.

I'm in Southampton where a cowboy builder left Denise and Dave Francis with a wreck of an extension.

Something they hoped would improve their quality of life has almost destroyed their marriage

and now Denise is struggling to cope with having Multiple Sclerosis.

All the more vital then that our Good Guy builders have been able to help rescue this catastrophe.

Let's see how they've got on.

'There was an incredible amount that needed fixing. I do hope they've got them back on track.'

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Denise? I'm Jonnie.

-Hi. And you must be Dave.

-I am.

-You both look in pretty good spirits.

-We are, thank you.

-Good. Excellent news. Can I come in?

-Come in.

-Thank you very much.

'I can't resist a quick peek.

'I'm not surprised they feel chipper.

'Remember what that extension looked like?

'Like something from a post-apocalyptic disaster movie.

'Now check it out.

'And inside, the cowboy left behind a cornucopia of calamities.

'Looks different now. Nice work, Good Guys.

'Before I take a closer look at the Good Guys' efforts,

'I want to find out how the Francises got caught in the trap.

'Ambulanceman Dave's had a call-out so Denise will fill me in.'

-When did you start thinking things were going awry?

-Once the brickwork was done,

it seemed that he was making excuses not to come.

Then it was his dad was ill, then it was something else,

then the materials hadn't been delivered, then it was another excuse. Things never got done.

When he did start doing things, they didn't look right.

I'd say, "This isn't happening. You've got things that need to be done." "I'll come back tomorrow.

"The thing with the doors was we couldn't get the doors."

Then it was something else. It just went on and on.

When you started hearing all these excuses, when you didn't see him on site,

-did that ring any alarm bells?

-Straight away.

-Yeah.

But when we confronted him, "It'll be fine. Don't worry about it."

'But looking at this monumental bodge, it was never going to be fine, was it?

'Dave and Denise had handed over £23,000 and the cowboy had strung them along for well over a year.'

How were you and Dave coping when a job that was supposed to take a matter of weeks

or months at best, was taking over a year? What happened to family life?

We were arguing. Sorry.

-We were at each other's throats all the time.

-I bet you were.

Trouble is, it was in your own home. This disaster was happening to you here and now, wasn't it?

This has been one of the worst stories we've seen because of all that's gone on.

And on top of this, I'm so sorry to hear that you were diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

-You just kept getting trouble put on your shoulders.

-Yeah.

-More and more and more.

-It just felt like we were being beaten down.

'Poor Denise. My heart goes out to her and her family at this tough time.

'And it's extremely gratifying that we've been able to do something for them.

'I want to take a closer look at our good guys' handiwork

'and I've got to say I like what I see.'

Well, this room, this whole building project was all about the roof,

but the first thing I'm looking for is water on the floor and it's not here, it's dry.

That's because, as you can see, you've got a properly fitted roof system above us.

It's like night and day, the difference between this job and the last.

First of all, these timbers, there's no gaps, no nail sticking out that's been missed.

These fit absolutely perfectly, but also they've used proper roof fixings here.

Look!

Joint hangers.

Because you've got joint hangers and these timbers are all flush, you can put plasterboard straight up to it.

But also, do you remember? The roof had been fitted with smaller timbers

which wouldn't take the whole weight

and so the cowboy decided to reinforce that by putting another set of joists perpendicular to it.

Unfortunately, that was also impacting on the ceiling height,

but now we've got an extra four to six inches, it feels bigger in here, doesn't it?

'The good guys have also used bolts to tie the joists together for extra stability

'and they've strengthened the wall supports too.'

There was gaps here. You could see daylight almost. There was wires spilling out of everywhere.

These joists are sat on proper padstones.

The builders obviously had to chop out all the mess that was here

and then re-lay these blocks to put the new roof on.

This looks fantastic.

'Everywhere I look, I see the tell-tale signs of a builder

'who knows how to put up and secure a roof.'

These are tying the roof system down. Wind can get under these roofs and almost blow them off.

This is tying everything into the fabric of the whole building.

'That Spaghetti Junction of wires spinning out of the walls is also a thing of the past.'

The sparky has taken a look at these and ripped them all out,

right back down to the chasing, ready to start again from scratch,

and they can do that now because it looks and feels watertight.

'And remember that polythene sheeting masquerading as patio doors? It's history.'

They've got some brand-spanking-new patio doors which...

..secure the house, of course, and look great.

You can imagine these in the summer wide open, bringing the garden in.

This is all cleared out, isn't it?

'The exterior brickwork is now dry as a bone.

'The more I see, the better it gets.'

That looks absolutely fantastic.

There was no guttering across the whole span of this.

There was not much fascia boarding going along it and the felting was hanging off.

Now you can see one long length of guttering.

The fall of this roof is sufficient for all the water to come right on to that guttering,

right across and down that drainpipe. It looks fantastic.

'Nothing excites an old surveyor like me more than a lovely roof. Ah, yes!'

It looks so much better and it's safe, secure and watertight.

More than job done.

'And the man responsible has come to talk me through the challenges he faced turning this project around.'

Tim, what were your thoughts when you first turned up here?

Well, there wasn't no common sense at all involved.

As you're aware, they've achieved the slope on their ceiling

by sloping the ceiling joists with the consequence being it was pushing against the outside wall

and all the blockwork cracked.

We couldn't redeem the situation, so we basically had to start again.

It's almost harder to do that way. The common-sensical approach would be, as you've done,

put joists flat and then build a slight slope with extra timbers, surely?

-You would have thought so.

-Which is what you've done.

-Yes.

'And done with aplomb.

'Now, before I do the grand tour with Denise and Dave who has now returned from work,

'I'm going to chat to them about their cowboy builder.

'I wanted to track him down to hear his side of the story,

'but unfortunately, he's proved just as impossible to trace for us as he has for them.'

If you had the opportunity to speak to him, what would you say?

Why us? He was a friend.

We gave him business which we expected to be delivered on,

but he's left us high and dry.

-Well, wet.

-And wet.

-And wet, yeah.

So we just wanted to know why. That's what everybody needs to know - why us?

What emotions would you say you feel towards the cowboy builder?

-You don't want to know.

-You don't want to know. To be honest...

-I really hate him.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-It put such a rift between us.

-It did.

I mean, it's going to take a long time to... I mean, we're closer now.

But we were going to go our own separate ways.

-Were you?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-It's still not great, but this has helped a lot.

-Yeah.

When the good guy builder Tim turned up, what were your thoughts?

-You've got another guy on site. Are you thinking, "How is this going to turn out?"

-No.

It was like a weight lifted off your shoulder.

Before, if he did turn up, you'd wonder what you'd come home to - two bricks laid or four bricks laid?

To give you an example, the first day that he turned up, half past seven, knock on the door,

quarter to eight, scaffolders arrived, eight o'clock, the roof was being ripped apart.

-Proper job.

-Whereas before, that would probably take about a month.

-Denise, you're smiling.

-Yeah.

Your face has turned from scorn talking about the cowboy builder

to smiling talking about the good guy which is brilliant to see.

'Right, it's time for the bit I've been waiting for, the grand tour.

'I'm looking forward to hearing what Dave and Denise think to the good guys' work.'

Well...

It must certainly be a lot drier in here than it was.

-Definitely, definitely.

-From what we had before, it was insecure, cold, damp, inhospitable...

Now at least we've got the start of something that we can work on.

The thing is, for the rooms, we had no idea of what to finish them off with

because we didn't know whether we'd have to knock them down completely,

based on what people told us, which would have meant even more distress,

but now the roof is all done, it's secure.

We're planning now for the future which is what we didn't have before.

'That future includes them taking the project on from here. We've done the work that was too big for them.

'Now they can do the fun stuff like fitting it out.'

-Look at it, it looks fantastic.

-Lovely.

-Yeah.

-It's a really tidy job.

-We can come out into the garden and not look back into a hole.

Just like an abyss, to be honest, because it was dark, it was dingy.

The hole that was there was just bleak.

You've got more than the foundations to press on. You have a watertight, good-looking shell here.

-The first fix isn't a million miles away here.

-No, exactly.

-No.

-So you've got plans...

-Yeah.

Here we go. Have you got plans you both agree on?

Hmm...

-LAUGHTER

-We'll come back to you on that one.

-Who's in charge of design here...? Yeah.

-Yeah.

You should be able to have it however you want.

-Yeah.

-Pink spots, flowers?

That was the original plan. We needed somewhere we could get Denise an office

and everything else like that, so you can do what you like.

'That's more good news for Denise.

'Like all good husbands, Dave is leaving the design choices to the boss. Good thinking, mate.

'Time to leave them to it.'

You know, it's quite hard to imagine that after Dave and Denise had hit such a low ebb

when their cowboy builder upped and left their extension in such a catastrophic state

and then the devastating diagnosis of Denise's condition, they'd find anything positive in their lives,

but the turnaround is quite staggering, due in no small part to the good guy builders

who, after just two weeks, as opposed to 18 months, of hard, honest graft,

have restored Denise and Dave's faith in the trade,

but they have also put their lives back on track and finally given them something to plan for.

For our next Cowboy Trap saga, we revisit two brothers we first met two years ago -

Donald and William Pearce.

Just like with Dave and Denise, a cowboy builder left behind a disastrous extension.

The botched build was so unsafe, Donald and William pulled it down with their bare hands.

Donald had an unusual hobby. He collected miniature trucks and lorries.

There's no official term for this, so I'm going to call him the "truckologist"?

That is my pride and joy.

It took a few years to collect them.

And it took quite a bit of money

to get them.

And because of his burgeoning collection, Donald needed to find even more cash.

Not for trucks and lorries, but for bricks and mortar.

Donald's collection had grown so large, he could no longer squeeze it into his bungalow,

so he decided to have an extension added to his ground floor bedroom.

This would give him more space to display his precious collectables.

He looked for a builder and as luck would have it, bad luck that is, one was advertising in the paper.

The builder came round and initially quoted £10,000 for the job,

but when Donald said that was too much, he came back later and reduced his estimate to £7,000.

He also said he had no other work on and could start straight away.

Donald gave him the green light and looked forward to his dream extension coming to fruition.

Within a fortnight, the walls were up, but the quality of the work was terrible.

You could see the wall wasn't level. We went and leaned against it.

You could just feel it give. There were no wall ties or nothing at all in it.

When Donald complained to the builder there were no wall ties,

the cowboy just upped and left, never to return, but this wobbly extension was so dangerous,

Donald was forced to take the heart-breaking decision to knock it down himself. Unbelievable!

It took me about three parts of a day to knock it down.

I'm not surprised Donald demolished his fundamentally flawed extension so easily.

No wall ties? If the third little piggy had hired this builder,

he and his mates would have been butty fodder for the big, bad wolf after just one puff.

Now, being a retiring type, Donald wasn't keen on reporting the builder to Trading Standards,

but luckily for him, he had some helpful neighbours who were worried about what they saw going on.

We went on holiday. We come back and Don said he'd had the builders in

and he hasn't seen them since.

So we come round and I thought, "What a load of...dodgy building going on!"

We made some enquiries as to who the builder was and where he lived.

I wrote a letter and it was delivered by hand,

asking him, would he please come and finish the job,

and if not, could we have some money back that had been paid.

I don't think he answered that. He might have rung Don and said he would come back, but then he didn't.

Trading Standards revealed there were ten county court judgments against the builder,

so it's no surprise he put up an unsafe and unstable excuse of an extension.

This guy was such a cowboy, he should have worn stirrups and a Stetson.

If Donald had checked with Trading Standards, he'd have found out this guy was a wrong 'un.

Take my advice...

It's down to you to ensure you're spending your money wisely.

With no less than ten county court judgments against this cowboy already,

Donald was forced to accept that he'd never get his money back.

Dave and Wendy witnessed the impact all this had on their unlucky neighbour.

Don is obviously very trusting.

Although he probably had an inkling that things weren't quite right,

he probably thought, "I'll give him a chance," and this builder just took advantage of him.

This was a heart-breaking story of two retired gents who were taken in by a cowboy builder

and how a man with a simple passion for trucks and lorries was cruelly robbed of his dream.

But alarm bells should have rung for Donald when the builder dropped his quote from £10,000 to £7,000.

And the bells should have rung even louder

when the builder said he was available at the drop of a hat because he had no other jobs on.

Here's another tip...

And because Donald was well and truly duped, all he was left with was a pile of rubble.

But you know the plot.

Our good guys came to the rescue -

Steve Bebb and his sidekick Luke Burgess.

They were determined that Donald's extension would rise like a phoenix from the ashes,

so it was out with the drills, hammers and trowel...

..so they could build the walls brick by brick.

Bebb and Burgess certainly didn't hang about.

Donald was no slouch either.

He grafted away in his own workshop creating a special cabinet for his lorries

to fit into his new extension as soon as it was ready.

The good guys pulled out all the stops to build an extension worthy of Donald's crafted cabinet

and its treasured contents. And this was the final result.

Unlike what went before...

..this was an extension guaranteed to stay up.

The walls were properly tied together using wall ties.

There was a new timber-framed window and a new fascia and guttering.

And without Donald knowing, the good guys installed the cabinet he'd crafted into the new extension.

And the entire project now had official sign-off from the local building control. Result!

From Wrekin Council, that is.

Certificate of completion.

He's satisfied with this. So am I.

Mission accomplished.

From before...to after.

There can be little doubt the good guys played a blinder.

It was truly a cause for celebration and loyal neighbours Dave and Wendy came to join in the party.

This was indeed one happy truckologist.

Donald's new domain was a wonder to behold,

but would it be a fitting home for his rapidly expanding collection

and had our good guys' efforts restored Donald's faith in the building fraternity?

Only time would tell.

It's been almost two years since those quite emotional scenes

when we helped Donald and William out of the cowboy trap.

With all those wonderful model trucks to display, that extension really was Donald's dream project,

so I'm looking forward to catching up with the boys to see how it's all worked out for them.

'And I'm looking forward to enjoying Donald's amazing collection.

'I've never seen a fleet of miniature trucks before.'

-Hi, Donald. How are you doing?

-All right, thanks.

-Good to see you.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

-Come on in.

-Thank you.

'As soon as I step inside, I'm almost lost for words.

'Truck-tastic!'

-It's this bit, isn't it? This is the main event.

-That's right, yes.

But this is, I mean...

Goodness me!

'600-plus trucks, Donald's pride and joy, all beautifully laid out and presented.

'And he's been a busy fella. He's built and hung loads more cabinets since we last saw him

'when only one cabinet was in pride of place.'

-You've worked so hard all your life and this is your passion.

-Yeah.

And so, you know...

when that guy, the cowboy ripped you off, you knocked all this down before, didn't you?

Yes, all that wall there. That was all gone.

'And gone for good reason, knocked down before it could fall down.

'Now Donald's trucks are as safe as well-built houses

'and because of that, Donald has had the confidence to complete his work,

'showcasing his extraordinary collection in a glorious way.'

You know that all this work you've put into these models is safe.

-They're not going to get damaged by water.

-No.

-This is staying put.

-That's staying put.

How does it make you feel, knowing that all this time, 16 years' worth of collecting,

-you can now display it where it's supposed to be? How does that make you feel?

-Great.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Unfortunately, it's putting fuel to the fire. It means you now want to go and get some more.

Oh, hello, what's going on here? You've not got any more, have you?

JONNIE LAUGHS

You what?!

-Are you joking with me, Donald?

-No.

'Crikey! As Cilla Black might have once said, that's a lorra, lorra lorries!

'It looks like Donald's going to need to build another extension soon!

'It's hard to believe that before our fellas arrived, this extension looked like this.

'Calling that an extension is pushing the boundaries of the English language,

'but after our good guys got involved, it became a construction to be proud of.

'And two years on, hey presto, it's still up.

'No need for Don to demolish this one and in the years since,

'he's adapted it to accommodate his rapidly growing collection superbly.

'Right, I want to sit down and chat with Don and William to find out what they learned

'from their cowboy builder encounter.'

You were left with a very unsafe bit of construction.

-That's right.

-William, I understand you helped out here.

You took it apart with your bare hands, didn't you?

Just rocked it, didn't I?

He wouldn't come. We just got down and knocked them.

You just knocked it down. There's knocking walls down and knocking walls down. Was it difficult?

-No.

-Then you've got no extension?

-No.

-No.

What were you going to do? What was your next step?

-Just forget it. That was what I was going to do.

-So why did you get in touch with Cowboy Trap?

Trading Standards asked me if I wanted to.

-They recommended you, did they?

-Yeah. I said, "Well, I'll try and see what they're like."

I wasn't sure.

-What do you think of the job that the good guy builders did?

-Great. No problems at all with them.

'Donald and William are such a lovely pair.

'How could anyone take them for £5,000 and leave them with an unsafe building?

'I can't help wondering how many other unwitting victims this cowboy has ripped off.'

So what would you do differently if you were to hire a builder now?

I'd look round for somebody decent.

You'd have to look very hard or go further afield, I suppose.

You've got to try and get recommendations and look at their job,

-speak to people that have had a finished, completed job.

-Yeah.

'Wise words, Donald. Wise words.

'Right, it's time for me to say my fond farewells.'

Best of luck. Well, keep on buying.

We'll maybe come back in five years and see if we can sort you out some more builders.

LAUGHTER

'It's great seeing Donald and William so happy.

'Hopefully, when he builds his next extension, he'll know who to call.'

You know, it's so gratifying seeing Donald thoroughly enjoying his hobby,

although if he carries on collecting those trucks at his current rate, he'll run out of space again soon,

but it's been wonderful to come to Telford and meet a thoroughly charming couple of brothers.

Long may they keep on trucking!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd