LOGOS proved to be a no-no for a cab driver who found himself up before magistrates after using them on flyers he posted through homes in St Albans. Atif Javed, of The Ridgeway, St Albans, trading as Hertz Building Services, included the logos of the Nati

LOGOS proved to be a no-no for a cab driver who found himself up before magistrates after using them on flyers he posted through homes in St Albans.

Atif Javed, of The Ridgeway, St Albans, trading as Hertz Building Services, included the logos of the National House Building Council, the Guild of Master Craftsmen and the Federation of Master Builders on leaflets touting for business - even though he had never been a member of any of them.

At St Albans Magistrates Court this week, Javed pleaded guilty to six offences under the Trade Descriptions Act following a Herts Trading Standards investigation.

He was fined �600 and ordered to pay �500 prosecution costs and a �15 victim surcharge.

Javed, who tried his hand at building to supplement his income as a cab driver, ran into difficulty when he needed to correct his workmanship for one customer who had pointed out some flaws.

The customer became suspicious and contacted the various organisations of which Javed claimed he was a member.

When he discovered that Javed was not known to any of them he complained to Herts Trading Standards which had, at the same time, received a complaint from another consumer.

The court heard that Javed had compensated one customer and was moving towards another settlement with the other. But because of the wasted materials and estimated costs of putting the work right, a compensation figure approaching �9,000 was suggested.

Javed apologised for his mistakes and said that he had only done two jobs and there had been no real financial benefit from the business. Because of that and the trouble he had found himself in, he has wound up Hertz Building Services and gone back to cabbing.