FIRMS have been warned that they could face fines of up to £5,000 if they make unsolicited calls to any business that has asked not to be bothered.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) is concerned that many small and medium sized enterprises are totally unprepared for the new legislation regarding unsolicited telephone calls to business and consumer telephone numbers that will became effective from June 25.

It is now an offence, punishable by a fine up to £5,000 to make unsolicited calls to any business 28 days after it has written to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) to register their number as opted out.

Jane Davies, FPB's member contact manager, said: "This a double edged sword. A new but hugely important area to be aware of for those businesses who use telephone marketing and also for those are being called by them.

"We have seen an increase in complaints by businesses pestered by unsolicited calls. There are also increased parallel concerns for internet business users with pop-up unsolicited adverts, which appear automatically.

"We are reminding our members and all other business owners that to make these unsolicited calls they will have to ensure that they are not calling a registered telephone number which has opted-out."

To license a copy of the TPS file costs £7,500 per annum for the full list of consumers and £3,750 for the list of businesses.

Another method of checking individual numbers free of charge is to look at the website, www.numbercheck.co.uk. This website checks individual business or consumer telephone numbers against the TPS.