Threatened and forced into a £45 phone bill

Q. I received an out-of-the-blue letter demanding I pay a £8,550 debt which I have never heard of.

It came from a Preston debt collector called C&T Ltd - equally unheard of.

The letter was very menacing. It said "We have attended your property today with a removal van." It added: "We will be re-attending your premises shortly at further cost. If you wish to avoid this distressing course of action, contact me immediately."

The first number given was a £1.50 a minute line - I was held on it for around 30 minutes.

Can you probe this?

RS, Middlesex

A. This must be the worst case of debt collectors trying to grab cash from those who owe nothing Capital Letters has seen. You had no prior warning, and, protesting your innocence cost you a £45 phone bill.

This little telephonic earner is no longer on offer to C&T. When Capital Letters brought the use of a premium rate number to Icstis's attention, the watchdog immediately pulled the plug on the line which is registered to Wade Johnson of MYPC Ltd, also at the Preston address.

Icstis says: "The nature of the business and the threats they are making is wholly unacceptable for a premium rate line. We are looking at all aspects of this."

Trading standards expert Bob Imrie says as the debt (apparently for rent owed to an estate agent) has never been proved, it is easier to claim harassment.

"A removal vehicle needs a court order and there is no court order," he adds.

Lancashire Trading Standards has received complaints about C&T. It believes the letter's language is actionable as causing "alarm and distress" over an alleged debt under the Administration of Justice Act. But there is no such company as C&T Ltd - using the "ltd" style is a Companies Act offence, although a firm called Corporate & Trade is one of many registered at the Preston address - Companies House records show its accounts are now four months overdue.

Its sole director is Mohammed Syeed Rashid, 38.

The Office of Fair Trading says Corporate & Trade does not have a consumer credit licence, essential for debt collecting. Rashid, along with other directors were "on a training course" when Capital Letters called.

Is it always subsidence?