Conmen with hard luck stories are at work in Wimbledon, the police have warned.

A spokesman for the Village Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “Well-spoken, smartly dressed young men have been reported harassing residents into buying household goods with various hard luck stories.

“They are calling door to door purporting to be selling selling goods for a charity, the Organisation for Homeless and Unemployed People.”

Police checks have revealed the organisation does not exist.

The spokesman said people who refused to buy the items were often pressured with hard luck stories or subjected to verbal abuse by the traders.

The goods for sale include tea towels costing £7.99 and scrubbing brushes costing £2.

Anyone targeted should call trading standards on 020 8545 4018.

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