Last year alone there were more than 1,700 complaints to the county's trading standards officers about rogue builders.

More than 1,000 Northamptonshire builders and tradespeople are now being invited to meet Construction Minister Brian Wilson at Northampton Saints Rugby Ground on 29 January.

He will be encouraging them to join the government's new anti-cowboy builder initiative, Quality Mark.

National register

It offers firms working in the home repair, maintenance and improvement market the chance to be assessed and added to a national register of reputable traders.

Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards said it was backing the scheme in response to the large number of complaints it received.

Mr Wilson said Quality Mark Scheme is of critical importance in tackling Britain's number one consumer complaint - the scourge of cowboy builders.

"Quality Mark is the only government-backed national register of reputable firms, bringing both peace of mind and protection to consumers as well as giving tradespeople a real business boost."

Nationally, Britain's Trading Standards officers recorded over 106,000 complaints in 2002.

This is thought to be the tip of the iceberg and official complaints about the rogue builders are estimated to be rising at around 5% a year.