A CAR dealer from Seend who has been fined thousands of pounds for fraud is questioning why Trading Standards didn't also prosecute the people who sold him a car with incorrect mileage.

Andrew Norris, 55, who runs R&L Cars Ltd from his home at The Stables, Cleeve House, Seend, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud which included faking a Ford service book on a car he had bought from an auction in Poole. Mr Norris, who is the sole director of R&L, was ordered to pay a total of £6,079 by magistrates in Swindon on March 20.

The Ford Focus was sold to him with paperwork saying that the car had a 72,000-mile warranty, even though it had actually done closer to 90,000 miles, and Mr Norris is questioning why this wasn't taken further by Trading Standards.

“I do admit to creating the logbook. When I bought it I was told it had done 72,000. This would be the same if anyone had bought it from auction. When you see the warranty on the screen you take it for fact,” Mr Norris said.

Mr Norris then went on to sell the Ford Focus and told the private buyer that the car had done 72,000 miles. It wasn’t until the buyer part-exchanged the car at a garage that Trading Standards were contacted.

“When I spoke to Trading Standards they said it stopped with me. I don’t understand why they aren’t chasing up the people who put the car up for auction as well,” Mr Norris added.

Mr Norris, who has been running R&L for 30 years and has been based at various places in Wiltshire, claimed Trading Standards has been overly critical previously during inspections of the cars he has for sale.

"I had one guy come to see us and check out one of the cars. He was underneath it and checking it out, even though we had just put it through an MoT and changed the tyres. When he was having a look I said to him that maybe he should look a bit closer to home as all four of his tyres were bald. The attitude changed quite quickly from then on," Mr Norris added.

Yvonne Bennet, Wiltshire Council trading standards manager, said: "When things like this come to our attention we investigate as much as we can. The complaint that came to us was about Mr Norris' sale of the car, not about his purchase of it.

"If anyone feels as if they have been scammed then they are asked to contact Trading Standards by calling 03454 040506."