OVERCHARGING for gardening and tree work is now rogue traders’ favourite con, new figures show.

Carrying out overpriced or poor-quality work in gardens overtook work to driveways as the issue which generated most complaints to Oxfordshire County Council’s trading standards team in the 12 months from April 2010.

It said 87 gardening and tree incidents were reported compared to 58 the previous year.

This overtook complaints about driveway work, which fell from 85 to 83.

Trading standards said a large number of gangs in the Cherwell district were responsible for the rise.

The report will be discussed by councillors at a scrutiny meeting on Monday at County Hall. It comes as they warn the service will struggle if total complaints continue to rise.

Trading standards chief Martin Woodley said of garden work: “It is an easy one. They get more profit out of it because there is no cost in materials.

“Neither do they need qualifications. Anyone could go to someone’s house and say ‘I am a gardener’.”

He added: “They don’t care about the quality of the work; it is just a way of making a quick buck.”

Mr Woodley said residents should demand paperwork and seek three other quotes before agreeing to work being carried out.

As reported in the Oxford Mail in July, the number of trading standards reports has hit record levels, with 524 last year compared to 182 in 2007.