Barton-le-Clay car trader fined for misleading customers

A Barton le Clay second hand car dealer has been fined after Central Bedfordshire Council’s Trading Standards Officers received several complaints about his business’s trading practices.
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A6 Motors Ltd and Director Amir Shafi, 33, pleaded guilty at Luton Magistrates Court on Tuesday, January 22, to two breaches of Consumer Protection law and was ordered to pay costs of £400 and fines of nearly £200.

The court heard that Central Bedfordshire Council’s Trading Standards team received complaints about A6 Motors from customers between November 2017 and February 2018.

One of the customers confirmed that they had problems with their vehicle shortly after driving it away from the premises and experienced difficulty in exercising their consumer rights.

A second customer found out, several months after buying a BMW and paying out for modifications to it, that it still had outstanding finance on it. The car had been advertised as being ‘HPI Clear’.

Councillor Ian Dalgarno, Executive Member for Community Services at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Our priority is to protect consumers and to keep them safe, so if traders are deliberately trying to mislead them, we have to take action.

“There is no place for irresponsible traders in Central Bedfordshire. This council will continue to clamp down on illicit businesses as part of our continuing battle to protect consumers and reputable traders across our county.

“We hope that this will act as a deterrent to not only Mr Shafi and A6 Motors Ltd who now both have criminal convictions against their names, but also to other businesses who attempt to deny customers their statutory rights.”

For more information about the Trading Standards and Public Protection work that the council does, visit www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/tradingstandards.