Following the Melling Scam that has caught poor Christine out we investigate how the people of Ambridge got scammed and Shari Vahl from You and Yours discusses how it happened and how you can avoid being scammed.

What's the deal with Melling Equestrian Investments?

It was run by a very charming friend-of-a-relative-of-a-friend of Justin Elliott. He was smooth and dapper and was offering very high returns of about 12% for investments into what he described as a world class racecourse for top quality horses in Costa Rica.

How were they scamming people?
Hugo Melling, apart from being charming, was also armed with very convincing, plushly illustrated brochures, full of smiling happy people, photographs of gorgeous places and computer generated impressions of what the racecourse would look like when it was finished. They also claimed to have offices in the heart of London’s Regent Street. Hugo claimed that he and his co-directors were international property experts and had the lifestyle and cars to match. These are the characteristics of many of the criminals You and Yours has investigated.

And Matt was also running his own scam as well?
Matt arrived in Ambridge ostensibly to source top quality bloodstock for Hugo’s racecourse. But realising he wasn’t going to be a part of the big money coming to Hugo, he decided to get some cash for himself. Cleverly he identified the very best horses in Ambridge and gave the prices to Hugo Melling, who supplied him with the money to buy them. But Matt actually bought the very worst horses and pocketed the difference. He told ex-lover Lillian that the money was to pay her back. But of course that money came from other investors who’d given it to Hugo.

What's the picture of these kinds of fraudulent operations in the real world?
These frauds are huge. There are lots of unregulated investments being offered by unregulated salesmen promising enormous returns which simply don’t stack up. While this fictional fraud involves Costa Rica, many real life bogus investment schemes are actually based in the UK and that gives people false trust that they will be fine. Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have lost millions of pounds of their pensions and savings in the belief that they were securely invested. There is little protection for these people and very little prospect of them getting their money back.

What do they do to make themselves appear genuine?
Like Hugo, criminals doing this go to enormous lengths to persuade their victims they are genuine. Don’t forget they have no intention of paying people back so they’re happy to spend their victims’ money on slick websites and highly-produced brochures. They’ll even meet you, wine and dine you, take you on their yacht or for a ride in their extremely expensive car to convince you that you too can be a high roller.

How can you spot one?
The first thing to watch out for is the cold call or an email or letter out of the blue. Never, ever believe it. Some people might be encouraged to go to a sales pitch like the one Hugo Melling did for Christine Barford. They can seem incredibly convincing. Sometimes they even have stooges in the audience to make it seem true. Genuine investment specialists tell us that anything unregulated promising guaranteed returns higher than 1% is lying to you. Shockingly, on You and Yours we have experience of people being defrauded in this way by people they know and trust.

What should you do if you think you have identified a fraudulent business or scam?

First, call Action Fraud - the UK’s fraud reporting centre - and give them all the details. They will need them to pass to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which will decide who is best to investigate. Then you could even drop us a line to youandyours@bbc.co.uk

Shari Vahl is a reporter and presenter for BBC Radio 4 You and Yours

You can hear You and Yours every weekday on Radio 4 or download the You and Yours podcast for the best of the show.

Best horses or worst horses?

A brand new exhibition about The Archers allows fans to delve into the world of Ambridge and get an idea of what goes on behind the scenes of the world’s longest running continuing drama.

The display showcases the history, milestone moments and celebrity fans of the soap opera that has become a radio institution. Visitors can learn fascinating facts about the production process, which celebrities have had cameos in The Archers, and understand the secrets of radio sound effects.

Huw Kennair-Jones Editor of The Archers said: “Ever since the first episode was broadcast in 1951 from a studio in Birmingham, The Archers has been part of the soundtrack of the UK, sparking many national and international conversations over the last 66 years. We can’t wait to invite audiences into BBC Birmingham to see how this radio programme about a village called Ambridge has become the world’s most talked about drama.”

The exhibits include the script for The Archers’ 1950 pilot episode, Archers jigsaws and games from the 1960s, and some of the real-life objects used to create the drama’s special soundscape. Visitors can take a virtual reality tour of The Archers studio and take a selfie of themselves in Ambridge!

The exhibition opens at BBC Birmingham, the home of The Archers, on 23 September 2017 and will be a permanent feature of the BBC Birmingham Visitor Centre.

As the high jinks of summer fade along with the colour of the leaves and the light at the ends of the day, a quiet hush has descended over Ambridge. But it is a deceiving calm as behind closed doors industrious efforts are going into preparing and practising winning Flower and Produce Show entries.

The Ambridge competitive spirit is alive and well with the 2017 Flower and Produce Show set for Sunday 17 September. Jennifer is in the zone – compiling a harvest platter evening for her family almost entirely from her F&P preparations. Jill has her sights set on the honey and gentleman’s buttonhole classes. Carol is busy making a whole range of chutneys and Pat is giving away her gooseberry jam (though anecdotal evidence suggests this may not be tipped to win). Meanwhile, Joe and Bert eye Cecil Jackson warily after learning he appears to have past form in sweeping the board at Hollerton’s show.

On the day, produce from the garden and creations from the kitchen will be tenderly laid out by entrants for the judges to inspect. Who will do well? And who will receive the ultimate accolade of the Freda Fry Memorial Award for Best in Show?

What are you experiences of events like the Ambridge Flower and Produce Show?

• Tell us about when you hit the horticultural show big time with red rosettes and silver cups?
• Or when your year of hard work on the vegetable patch was overlooked by judges?
• How are these shows judged and what are the rules entrants need to follow?

Get in touch in the comment section below or via Facebook or Twitter.

The Archers has won two awards for its Solidari-tea campaign which harnessed the support of millions of people for Helen as she was about to stand trial for seriously wounding her abusive husband, Rob Titchener. 

Solidari-tea was named Most Distinctive Moment of the Year and Best Initiative to Reach New Audiences at the BBC Radio Awards 2017. 

Listeners had heard Helen experience of coercive control. Month by month she became more vulnerable and more isolated as Rob tightened his grip on her actions as well as her thoughts. According to Women’s Aid, Helen’s story was responsible for a 17% rise in calls to the National Domestic Abuse helpline which they dubbed “The Archers effect”.

With Helen's future hanging in the balance, Solidari-tea put the call out for people to share of photo of themselves holding a cup of tea in solidarity with Helen, as well as those who have faced similar circumstances in real life.

 The Archers cast show solidari-tea

The response was overwhelming. #FreeHelen trended and sparked the slogan "control is not love". Thank you to everyone who took the time to show their solidari-tea.

And the winner is...

Justin’s proposal for Borchester Land to have a large-scale, indoor pig farm in Ambridge is proving controversial, especially with Lynda and Kirsty. They would much rather see pigs raised outdoors as they are on Tom’s organic system.

British pork and bacon

However the reality is most British pork and bacon – around 60% – comes from pigs reared inside sheds. Around nine million pigs are slaughtered annually in the UK to provide the 25kg we each consume every year. Producing it each year is fast becoming a large-scale specialist operation.

There are currently around 10,000 pig farms in Britain (though there are many more premises that keep pigs often as pets). But of these 10,000 farms, no more than 1600 specialist units produce by far the biggest part of our pigmeat. These units are known as “assured” farms which means they meet internationally-recognised standards through the whole production chain. It’s clear Justin is aiming to build and run one of these specialist units.

Five freedoms

Welfare standards for the animals on UK farms are generally high. They are based on a welfare code that is meant to guarantee the animals five freedoms – freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom to express most of their normal behaviour; and freedom from fear and distress.

However, there are criticisms of methods used in modern indoor pig production. Farrowing crates in which sows are confined when they have their piglets reduce the risk of the newly-born offspring being crushed. But not everyone’s happy about them. Some critics would prefer sows to be kept using indoor pen systems.

There are also concerns about the hard slatted floors many indoor pigs are reared on. Critics say the higher welfare practice of keeping pigs on straw is kinder and more comfortable for them. From an environmental point of view, the heavy reliance of indoor systems on imported soya as a protein source is considered by many to be unsustainable.

Bees are great for my garden as well as those around me, they are also incredibly clever and fascinating and then, of course, there’s the honey. There’s quite a ritual involved in extracting it.

Wearing a bee suit and carrying a smoker and hive tool, I head down to the hives. After smoking the entrance, I take off the roof and smoke through the holes in the crown board, removing it to see what’s going on in the supers. I’m looking to see whether the majority of the frames contain capped cells of honey ready to be extracted, just like Jill and Kirsty have been doing.

Lorraine Chapman at her beehives

Lorraine Chapman's May 2017 crop of honey

The Birthday Honours List is a long held tradition of the reigning monarch's official birthday but this year the honours come as an added birthday treat for someone else other than the Queen.

In the same week as her 98th birthday, the Archers actress June Spencer is recognised with a CBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours List!

June Spencer and Denis Folwell as Peggy and Jack Archer in 1951.

The comedian Chris Neill has admitted that he once mistook a doorbell in Ambridge to be someone at his own front door. 

Follow the arrows and before you know it you'll be in Ambridge.

Up there with the Royal family, tea and queuing, The Archers is undoubtedly a quintessentially British thing. Last year there was even an academic study into why The Archers is a valuable record of the English language.

Now, two primary school teachers have called on the world's longest-running serial drama to help teach English. Keen to take a fresh approach with their creative writing classes, Mrs Elvin and Mrs Cardiff, introduced their pupils to The Archers.

The children, some of whom had never heard of The Archers, listened to the programme and then had a go at writing their own versions. But the programme provided more than a reliable example of English dialogue. "It also led to great discussions about where The Archers was set and life in the UK as many of our students are unfamiliar with this environment", say the two teachers.

That’s because Mrs Elvin and Mrs Cardiff teach at the Compass International School in Doha which has around 60 nationalities in its cohort of pupils. Head of Primary at the school’s Madinat Khalifa Campus in the Qatari capital, Jimmy Frawley, says, "The children were asked to think about what was happening in the drama and how character intonation and sound effects were used to enhance the telling of the story."

And The Archers’ impact extended beyond the classroom. Jimmy adds, "it ignited interest in parents as well, with interesting conversations at the school gates and the sound of students (and teachers) humming the theme tune in the playground and around school!"

Here’s to a new generation of international Archers listeners!

The six ponies that appeared overnight at Ambridge Hall seem to have been abandoned or they could be an example of fly-grazing. It can be difficult to distinguish between the two as the RSPCA explains... 

There’s nothing quite like planting a tree.

At the Woodland Trust we’re thrilled Brian is planting his own native woodland in Ambridge as we want to see a UK rich in native trees and woods, for people and wildlife.

We’ve pulled together some important things for Brian to consider when planting native trees:

• Use a good mix of native broadleaf species and ensure they are UK sourced and grown. All of the trees we use come from seeds collected and stored in the UK to minimise the risk of importing and spreading pests and disease. By planting a broad range you’ll be creating woodland that is more resilient to pressures.

• Take a look around your neighbourhood and work out which species are thriving – this will give you an idea of what might do well in your soil. Most trees can grow in a range of conditions but some have a preference for sandy, clay, wet or chalky soils.

• Work out what you want from the trees. To encourage wildlife then native trees with nuts and berries such as rowan, hazel and beech will provide food throughout the year. For autumn colour, plant spindle, dogwood or field maple. The best species for firewood are cherry, hornbeam, birch and rowan while oak, beech and walnut will provide a timber crop.

• Plant from mid-November to the end of March when the tree roots are dormant and can cope better with being moved.

Whatever you want to plant, whether it’s just one tree in your garden or a whole wood, the Woodland Trust can help with advice and information. Visit the Woodland Trust for more tree planting and care advice.

Photo credit: WTML Ken Leslie

Rob and his son Jack have had their first appointment together at a child contact centre. Rob's time with Jack was reduced from twice a week to once a month in a supervised setting, after he was psychologically assessed. The psychologist recommended the change to the contact "due to the level of risk of emotional and psychological harm which Mr Titchener poses".

What are child contact centres?

A child contact centre provides a safe and neutral meeting place for families that have experienced an acrimonious divorce or separation. There are more than 400 contact centres across the UK, used by more than 20,000 children each year. There are two types of contact centres; supported and supervised. The latter are used where child protection concerns have been raised about one of the parents, as is the case with Rob.

Who runs them and how are they funded?

They are often run by charities and are funded by grants, although some funding does come from government. Most contact centres offer a free service but some charge a fee, and in the case of centres which offers supervised sessions there is always a charge. If a referral to a supervised contact centre is necessary however, and is as a result of court proceedings, the government will pay for a number of sessions sometimes determined by the court.

While there is no statutory provision of funding for child contact centres, there have been calls to put this in place. All centres are expected to be affiliated to the National Association of Child Contact Centres, and abide by their National Standards. All are accredited every three years, and courts and Cafcass do not use non-accredited centres. Training for all workers and volunteers is mandatory.

How do they work?

A child, like Jack, who is having contact time with a non-resident parent is brought to a centre. In supported contact the child is brought to the non-resident parent by a volunteer and the volunteer is not involved in the contact further. In Jack's case, where supervised contact is taking place, he is introduced to the supervisor and taken into a room with Rob, the non-resident parent. The contact worker will observe the contact in these circumstances as the court may require a report on the quality of the contact, or may have to observe for other reasons. The parent or guardian who has brought the child, in this case Helen, stays for a short while to be sure the child is settled.

Contact centres enable a non-resident parent to maintain and build a relationship with their child when they no longer live together and communication between the two parents may not be possible. In some cases, after the support of a contact centre, a non-resident parent and their child can move to unsupervised time together and the child can visit the non-resident parent’s own home.

Toby’s venture into making gin seems to be moving in the right direction with each batch tasting better than the previous one. He must be itching to take advantage of the flourishing market for British artisan gin.

“It’s certainly the spirit of the era” says Miles Beale, who is chief executive of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association.

Speaking to Farming Today he went on to say, “British gin is not just seeing a renaissance it’s seeing an absolute explosion of growth.”

According to Miles, gin is considered to be “a quintessentially British product” and its deep-rooted historical links in the UK give gin makers an advantage when it comes to establishing new brands.

'Simple in theory'

“I knew it was having a boom but I didn’t imagine it would reach the stage it’s at now” says craft gin maker, and co-founder of Brighton Gin, Kathy Caton. Two years on from having her first bottles on sale, Kathy now has over 600 stockists and is starting to export her product.

Similarly to Toby, Kathy started out learning the basics of gin-making in her kitchen. “It’s simple in theory but it’s like a soufflé”, she says, “it looks simple on paper but there are so many different variables that can make it go wrong.

"It’s easy to get something that looks and smells like gin but doesn’t taste nice at all.”

Kathy says the rise in craft spirits is an echo of the craft beer movement. She adds, “It’s consumer-led, people are genuinely interested in where their drink has come from and how it’s been made”.

Modern technology means it is possible to produce gin in smaller amounts with smaller stills so, if Toby’s gin operation comes off he’ll be facing sizeable competition. “In the last full year for which we have records, 56 new distilleries opened in the UK”, says Miles Beale.

What would Kathy’s advice be to Toby for becoming a distiller of gin?

1) If you think you’re going to get rich quick, try something else! There are a lot of long hours.
2) Be methodical, write everything down – if you make the perfect concoction you won’t want to forget the recipe!
3) Make friends with the HMRC and Trading Standards. You absolutely have to operate properly and above board.
4) You’ll be dealing with discerning customers – you won’t be able to fob them off.
5) Take advantage of the perfect brand ambassador who's on your doorstep - Lilian!

Hmm, while it's not easy to have complete confidence in Toby when it comes to points 1) to 4) at least 5) is a bonus!