Vance Miller runs a cheap kitchens business that regularly keeps its customers happy, yet he was accused by authorities of causing more consumer complaints than any other independent trader in Britain. He wanted to know how that could happen.

After his home and factory in Oldham were raided in the small hours of the morning and he was arrested in a police operation large enough to handle a major terrorist plot, he really wanted to know how that could happen.

The media followed the story. National newspapers and television programmes like the BBC's Watchdog characterised Vance Miller as 'Britain's worst rogue trader' based on evidence supplied by the Office of Fair Trading.

Trading standards officers said they were handling between 60 and 100 complaints per week about his business, known simply as 'Kitchens', and that the firm was the single most complained about independent trader in the UK.

It was these same officials who requested the extraordinary raids last November (29/11/2006), carried out by more than 130 police officers, citing "a major conspiracy to defraud UK consumers that runs into millions of pounds".

But Mr Miller subsequently used the Freedom of Information Act to force an admission from the Office of Fair Trading in Oldham that their figures had been "mixed up" and to reveal that the level of complaints they received before the raid was planned was not running at 60-100 per week... but 2-10 per month.

He says that the only "major conspiracy" to be revealed involves property development plans held by local public officials, who view his thriving Kitchens business - based in Maple Mill in Cardwell Street, Oldham - as a barrier to their own ambitions for the area.

Following his investigations, Vance Miller issued the following statement, 25/06/2007, along with documentary evidence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and photo copies from his extensive file of newspaper cuttings.

John Rice, Oldham Council service director for environment protection, told the Oldham Chronicle newspaper on 11th November 2006 that officials started to plan the raid on Kitchens five months before it took place, in late June and early July 2006. In those two months, the business received two and five complaints, respectively. But the Office of Fair Trading in Oldham was at the same time proactively contacting newspaper and television reporters with information that 50,000 complaints had been received, which made Kitchens "the most complained about independent trader in the UK"

One month later, 27th August 2006, the Office of Fair Trading published an advertisement asking for consumers with complaints to get in touch. Some customers were understandably alarmed by the announcement and complaints received at Kitchens went up slightly as a result.

3rd September 2006: The Office of Fair Trading announces it has more complaints resulting from the advertisement and Kitchens records a further increase in calls to its offices from customers.

10th and 17th October 2006: Reports by the BBC TV Watchdog programme ask for dissatisfied customers to come forward. Tony Allen, head of Oldham Trading Standards emerges as leader of a co-ordinated and longstanding campaign against the business. Complaints reach an all-time high.

29th November 2006: Early morning raid by 130 police officers, accompanied by television crews, newspaper reporters and Trading Standards personnel led by Tony Allen. Children's toys found at the Maple Mill offices are used as the pretext for a statement to reporters that "firearms" were recovered at the scene. The story is widely reported. ("5am Raid On Kitchen Gangster" - "Weapons Found In Mill Swoop").

Conclusion: Five months before the raid, without just cause, when Kitchens was the subject of very few complaints - no more than can be expected by any direct sale business supplying hundreds of customers per week - Oldham Trading Standards officers were already planning to see the business closed down.

'Freedom of Information' figures dated 10th May 2007 not only show that complaints against Kitchens at no time amounted to "thousands", but also show a consistent drop, year on year, revealing that, if anything, customer service was improving over time.

It is worth noting that this improvement was achieved despite having to fight against the barrage of attacks originating with Oldham Council in the form of consistently hostile newspaper stories and reports on television and radio.

There were other actions designed to destabilise the business. Publications were warned by Oldham Trading Standards that they would face court action if they accepted its advertisements. The Advertising Standards Authority was persistently contacted by Oldham officials with requests to take action. Licences to operate essential delivery vehicles were revoked by the Traffic Commissioner.

Despite having to deal with this running interference, I have still managed to bring down my complaint figures year by year, even with the added numbers generated by the TV and newspaper campaigns originating with spurious information supplied by Trading Standards. In the 12 month period before the Trading Standards plan to target my business, only 73 complaints were received.Click Here to Continue