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Silent, anonymous and mysterious.

The telephone calls can come at any time of the day or night sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes a dozen times. There is no voice on the other end of the line, just an eerie silence. The Daily Echo is backing Radio Solent's Silent Calls Campaign calling for an end to the latest trend in telesales which is leaving many people frightened in their own homes.

Increasingly, telemarketing firms selling everything from Spanish holiday villas to medical insurance are using predictive dialling systems software which allows them to make calls by automatically dialling a selection of random numbers.

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COMPANIES which plague householders with "silent" telephone calls are to face fines of up to £50,000.

The decision comes after thousands of complaints about the problem which results in a person hearing only silence when they answer the phone.

Silent calls occur when automated calling systems are used by call centres to generate more phone calls than staff can deal with.

When the phone is answered and there is not a member of staff available, the line remains silent.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson has announced the decision to increase the fine for the nuisance calls from £5,000 to £50,000.

The tariff will be set by Department of Trade and Industry and enforced by the independent communications regulator Ofcom.

He said: "Silent calls are annoying and distressing, particularly for the elderly, hard of hearing and people living on their own."

"I am increasing the maximum penalty tenfold, from £5,000 to £50,000, to deter the companies that make these nuisance calls. It will be possible to fine for each breach." of the requirements.

"Our consultation showed overwhelming support for raising the maximum penalty for silent calls."

BT currently handles about 80,000 complaints a month about nuisance calls.

In research commissioned by Ofcom, 63 per cent of adults said they were concerned about silent calls.

People aged over 65 expressed more concern, with 63 per cent saying they were very concerned, compared with 15- to 24-year-olds, of whom 24 per cent said they were very concerned.

Silent calls are also more likely to cause distress among women (38 per cent) than men (33 per cent).

Ofcom has also announced new rules which includes all abandoned calls carrying a short recorded information message to identify the source of the call.

4:09pm Tuesday 23rd May 2006

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