THE boss of a roofing firm was accused of being a ‘rogue trader’ tonight following an undercover sting by the BBC's Watchdog show.

Simon Fielding, 50, of Sunderland Street, Burnley, runs 1st Call Roofing, listed to White Goat Farm, Whalley Banks, Whalley.

On BBC1’s Watchdog programme tonight, Mr Fielding was the subject of an undercover operation by the Rogue Traders production team, which accused his firm of poor workmanship.

But Mr Fielding's solicitor tonight accused the BBC of 'questionable methods' and 'maintained his work over many years stands up to scrutiny'.

The firm, with 20 years’ experience, was featured after Watchdog said it had received complaints from Fielding’s customers that flat roofs had leaked after he re-felted them.

The 8pm programme showed the Rogue Traders team hiding a roofing expert - Barry Cross - at a house in Burnley which needed its leaking porch re-felting.

He watched via a video feed from hidden cameras as 1st Call Roofing got to work.

According to the BBC, Mr Fielding quoted £900, said the slipped tiles were ‘missing or broken’ and that an upper flat roof needed replacing.

The expert Mr Cross described the finished job as ‘awful’ and said he struggled to give it ‘one out of 10’.

The BBC claimed that within days, and after several rain showers, the roof was leaking again, far worse than before.

Rogue Traders wrote to Simon Fielding and asked him for a refund.

His solicitor replied to say that Mr Fielding did not accept the assertions about previous customers or criticisms of his workmanship.

The solicitor said Mr Fielding was going to arrange a £276 refund.

But the BBC said, after five weeks of waiting, presenter Matt Allwright confronted Mr Fielding in Clitheroe.

Mr Fielding told the Lancashire Telegraph he would be taking legal action and declined to comment.

Speaking on his behalf, solicitor Paul Schofield, of Farleys, said Mr Fielding had sent the BBC a cheque by post as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.

He said: “My client is unhappy about the questionable methods used by the BBC.

"He maintains that his work over many years stands up to scrutiny and that he has always gone back to resolve the small proportion of complaints he has received.”

Click on the link below to watch the episode of Watchdog on the BBC website.