Romford rogue trader Barry Ivey sold clocked cars on auction site

�A car dealer who turned back the clocks of cars to make them appear to have done less mileage than they had, has been fined.

Havering Council was awarded �2,000 in fines and costs after successfully prosecuting Barry Ivey, of Marlborough Road, Romford, for selling the vehicles, known as clocked cars.

Ivey denied operating a business or trading from a private house and contested the charges, the council revealed.

But he was found guilty of placing two misleading adverts on an internet auction site, contrary to Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, at Havering Magistrates’ Court.

The case began when a car was bought from an online advert in May 2011 and it was described as having covered 56,000 miles.

Investigations

The buyer later established the car had travelled in excess of 180,000 miles and alerted the council.

Investigations discovered another vehicle Ivey sold had the odometer adjusted to show the vehicle had travelled 40,000 miles less than it actually covered.

These two vehicles alone had in fact travelled 164,000 miles – the equivalent of six-and-a-half times around the earth – further than Ivey had suggested.

The council established that Ivey had at least 27 vehicle listings on online auction sites between August 2009 and July 2011.

He was fined �500 for each offence, �1,000 costs were awarded to the council, and he had to pay a �15 victim surcharge.

Cllr Lesley Kelly, cabinet member for housing and public protection, said: “This case highlights just how careful residents have to be when buying anything from the internet.

“We take issues of bogus trading very seriously. We will always prosecute those we believe to be trading illegally.”