I HAVE signed up to the Telephone Preference Service so in theory I should get no nuisance cold calls. As everybody will be only too well aware we are still bombarded by them daily. My desk phone is an old handset without caller display and this morning I have had five or six, each of which I have picked up then hung up, and I’m getting really irritated. I am concerned about the effect on some of the more vulnerable people who might well be the main target of these calls.

I understand that many are run from outside the UK and need not abide by our laws but something needs to be done. There are several options open to us; we can pay £5.40 per month extra to our telephone supplier to prevent calls that do not show the number and this will prevent any unknown callers including those of our friends who routinely do not give their number; we can have caller display and reject any calls that are unrecognised or we can demand that our MPs make it mandatory for telephone companies to provide a service that deals with the problem. Over to you Westminster.

DS Blackwood,

1 Douglas Drive East, Helensburgh.