Andy Burnham labels cowboy builders 'crooks' who 'destroy lives' and vows to put them out of business.

Writing in the Daily Mail the Prime Minister tells how one woman was driven to attempt suicide by an unscrupulous tradesman who left her home unsafe to live in.

Citing figures showing that homeowners lost £14.3billion in five years to cowboy builders, he adds: 'They prey on the vulnerable, they rob our neighbours of their futures and, above all else, they destroy lives.

'They're crooks - and it's about time we treated them like it. So, today, we're putting the cowboys out of business.'

Mr Burnham, who visited workers in Wales and political leaders ahead of Parliament's return next week, announced that the Government is backing two new schemes. 

The first, which will go live next week, is a smartphone app called Trusted Partners that keeps homeowners' money safe during projects with payments only released to builders when key stages of the work have been completed.

As many as 100,000 traders across Britain will be able to access it by the end of September, according to the Department for Business and Trade.

It has been developed by a private firm in partnership with TrustMark, a Government-endorsed quality scheme.

The second element, the Approved Codes Scheme for the home improvement sector, has been developed by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman. 

Businesses who sign up will have to show they meet higher standards of customer service. 

It will launch at the end of September and be fully live by December. 

The Government is endorsing both schemes but has not funded them.