SHOPPERS' champion Penny Boys has vowed to crack down on unfair trading practices by firms in the county.

Miss Boys, Kent-based deputy director of the Office of Fair Trading, was in Chatham to tell local businesses at a seminar what they had to do to avoid the long arm of its regulatory law.

Her visit, which also took in Bluewater, was part of an OFT campaign to make it better known across the UK and to sound out opinion from businesses and shoppers.

"We need to get out and about and talk to people about markets that are bothering them," she said at the Bridgewood Manor Hotel.

"For a fair-dealing business, we are not the enemy. We want to help them comply with the law and competition is what business is all about.

"If people have got market power which they are seeking to protect in an anti-competitive way, it's right that we are on to them."

She backed demanding customers. "Consumers drive competitive markets and competitive markets are good for consumers."

The OFT cracks down on anything that works against consumers. This could include abuse of legal rights when they buy or hire goods, purchase faulty goods, unwanted products and a host of other issues.

It is looking into extended warranties, local taxi services and private dentists. It was also involved in the Competition Commission's high-profile investigation into supermarkets.

The OFT guns for cartels and under an Enterprise Bill going through Parliament - expected to become law next year - cartel operators could face criminal charges.

It also regulates "distance" shopping by telephone, letter or the Internet, underlining the consumer's right to a seven-day cooling-off period.

Miss Boys, who lives in Hadlow, near Tonbridge, urged consumers to shop around, to take account of after-sales service, and to look for a good financing deal, not necessarily linked to the retailer.

The OFT employs 600 people. Miss Boys is a career civil servant who has worked in the electricity industry and the Competition Commission.