THREE company directors of PPI firms which ripped off Scots to the tune of £1 million have been banned from running a business.

Christopher Mills, 26, Paul Young, 33, and Mark Taylor, 26, have been disqualified from being directors for a combined total of 25 years.

An investigation found they acted as 'stooges' by allowing other people to operate the three companies registered in their names.

The firms ripped off the public by cold-calling customers and falsely informing them they were entitled to compensation for products such as PPI or that credit card debts could be wiped out altogether.

Mills, Young, and Taylor posed as frontmen for McGregor-Moore, Bradley-Turner and Bridgewater Claims Management, but played no role in their management. The firms operated out of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Between October 17, 2008, and January 15, 2010, the three companies obtained customer deposits exceeding £1.3m for which little or no service was provided.