MP demands curbs on prize line

AN MP is to press in the Commons for a crackdown on the rules governing premium-rate phone calls.Selby MP John Grogan has pledged to fight for better regulations after hundreds of North Yorkshire residents were left fuming at bills they had run up phoning a controversial prize hotline.He intends tabling a Parliamentary question this week after constituents complained about letters from Disbursement Claims, of High Wycombe, which they said encouraged them to believe they had won a big cash prize. But when the winners phoned a £1 a minute 0896 number to discover what their prize was, it invariably turned out to a lifetime telephone number and answerphone service, allegedly worth £250 - and the call cost them up to £6. One such winner was Margaret Atkinson, of Wheldrake, whose telephone call to the prize line cost her £5.23. She said she had phoned up thinking she had a good chance of a big cash prize, not realising what she would pay for the call.Mr Grogan told the Evening Press: "There's no warning at the beginning of the message of the costs involved and I'm going to contact ICSTIS, the telephone watchdog, about this matter and ask a parliamentary question."There should be a clear warning at the beginning to let people know how much they are paying - people are spending large sums of money on their phone bills without realising it."Mr Grogan is also concerned at the delay in closing down the line once the watchdog told the network operator World Telecom to pull the plug."I am very disturbed at the delay -it took about two weeks for the line to be cut off," he said. "During that time people were still ringing the line at a cost of about £1 a minute."I believe there is a moral argument for those people, who called during in the time the line should have been cut off, not to be charged."There must be suspicions that the line was left on for commercial reasons and we have to ask whether an operator who flagrantly disregards an instruction is fit to operate such a service."I intend to ask a Parliamentary question next week to clarify what powers are available to the watchdog and if more powers are needed."