A YOUNG businessman said police spot checks could have cost him customers.

Andrew Stevens, 24, of Knox Road, Clacton, said he was made to look like a dodgy dealer after he was quizzed in public while delivering leaflets.

Mr Stevens was questioned for about five minutes by three police and two trading standards officers in Frinton.

He claims the treatment was too heavy-handed and fears the incident could have lost customers for his roof-cleaning business, Roof Shine, which he set up two months ago.

He said: “I am a young lad, trying to make something of myself, and they have put a downer on it by making me look like a right idiot.

“It is the first time I have been out leaflet dropping.

“You could see people standing at their windows, looking.

“They must have thought I was a dodgy leaflet dropper or something, because they can’t hear what is going on.

“It is the way they did it. You have three police officers standing there and two others from trading standards.”

He complained to the officers after they stopped him in the street, saying they could have done the checks in a more discreet way.

He said: “They could have taken the leaflet rather than just stopping me in the street.

“Everyone who has picked up that leaflet in their doorway is going to think he has just been stopped by police. It is going to affect me.”

Nicola Spicer, a spokeswoman for Essex County Council said the checks on Mr Stevens were part of a routine operation.

She said: “These checks are part of an ongoing project to protect vulnerable members of the community from being targeted by unscrupulous tradesmen who cold call on residents.

“Trading standards regularly receive complaints and requests for help from elderly and vulnerable citizens, who have been the victims of rogue traders.

“We do our best to make sure traders operating in Essex are reliable and trustworthy.”

Debbie Chisholm, a spokesman for Essex Police, said the force would welcome any comments from Mr Stevens if he wants to get in touch.