Rejected petition Reform law on peddling and unsolicited house callers

Distraction burglaries account for 3.5% of all reported burglaries and tend to affect the most vulnerable people in society, such as the elderly.

The Pedlars Act 1871 is over 140 years old and only regulates people selling door-to-door, not other potentially bogus callers.

Legislation should be made to require licensing of all unsolicited house callers, including pedlars, utility engineers/meter readers, religious groups and charity collectors.

Licences should only be issued to persons of good character and licensees should display the licence at all times in a similar way to the SIA scheme. The licences should bear a photograph of a licensee and a unique serial number which can be verified by dialling a single national phone number or via a government website.

All licensees should adhere to a uniform statutory code of practice and licences should be revoked following breaches of the code or conviction for an acquisitive offence such as theft or burglary.