TWO-THIRDS of Scots feel angry about calls by claims management companies and believe their privacy has been breached, a new poll has found.

The survey of 2000 adults found that one in five Scots are contacted by Claims Management ­Companies (CMCs) in any 24-hour period in the ­working week.

Although 45% have tried to stop the flow of unwanted messages by phone or text, only 6% have succeeded. More than half (56%) say they have seen no change in the number of communications they receive as a result of regulatory changes introduced by the UK Government last year and 14% say that they have ­actually seen an increase.

The research, commissioned by insurance firm AXA, highlights the severe emotional impact attached to the frequent communications from CMCs, with two-thirds expressing the view that they are an "invasion of their privacy".

Scottish respondents to the survey made it clear they want tighter regulation by governing bodies with more than two-thirds (68%) calling for CMC communications to be made illegal.

Professor Christopher Parsons, of the independent Cass Business School in London, said: "The persistence of CMC communications is evident and respondents indicate a strong sense of powerlessness to stop it.

"Recent government intervention to regulate CMCs does not seem to have had a sufficiently significant effect."