AN Atherton couple are warning householders to beware of unscrupulous sales representatives in the neighbourhood.

The pair claim a company trying to sell them an "alternative" power supply would not take "no" for an answer.

And say that when they were asked to sign proof they had been called upon, they were actually offered a copy of a contract.

Tommy Boardman and his wife Joan realised the discrepancy and refused to sign.

But, they say, they are aware of a friend, who also lives in Atherton, who fell for the same tactics employed by a different company's sales representative.

Mr Boardman said: "It seems that different sales people from a variety of companies are using the same methods.

"My friend ended up signing for a power supply she didn't want, while I was close to doing the same thing with a different firm.

"I was only stopped from making the mistake when my wife spotted the form I was about to put my name to was a contract."

Mrs Boardman said: "The saleswoman had come to the door and kept going on and on, even though we said we weren't interested.

"Eventually she seemed to get the message and asked us to sign a form to prove to her bosses that she had called on us. It seems these sales people need the form to be signed to get paid.

"We didn't have a problem signing that.

"She produced a form, which we were about to sign, when she took out a second, larger one.

"I noticed it had the word 'contract' on the top of it, and the saleswoman asked for our Norweb account number. Alarm bells rang in my mind.

"She asked us to sign both forms. We refused because we told her one of the forms was a contract. We did sign the smaller form to prove she had called, but she was very rude and pushy when we wouldn't sign the contract.

"It just seemed to be an underhand trick to get people to sign up, so we rang to complain. Staff at the head office were very apologetic and nice about it all.

"But I am sure others in the area will fall prey to these tactics, not realising they are actually signing contracts.

"People need warning about this. It seems to me that it is very underhand, and that it is a practice used by certain salespeople in a variety of companies.

"It is a general thing, and we just feel that at least by getting the message out through the newspaper we can pre-warn others."