THE battle against the continuing scourge of nuisance calls has taken a major step forward.

The Government is introducing moves to crack down on the issue – with bosses themselves facing the possibility of being hit by large fines.

Richmond’s Tory MP Rishi Sunak has been working on a Government bill to tighten up the law governing direct marketing techniques.

And he described this week’s announcement that company bosses would face individual fines of up to £500,000 for cold-calling campaigns as a “massive step forward” in the battle against the distress caused by nuisance calls.

Mr Sunak said the move would close a loophole in the current law which allows company owners to claim bankruptcy for firms that are fined and therefore dodge the payment.

It has been revealed that the majority of fines for nuisance calls had not been paid because the firms had gone bust or declared themselves insolvent.

“I have been contacted by many of my constituents – some of them the elderly and vulnerable - who are persistently targeted by cold-calling companies despite taking the precaution of registering with the Telephone Preference Service,” he said.

“It is clear the current regulations are not proving to be a sufficient deterrent and I welcome the Government’s move to close this loophole which the unscrupulous marketeers are using to avoid penalty.”

Mr Sunak said nuisance calls had been discussed during his work on the Digital Economy Bill which is currently before Parliament and he had separately raised the issue with Ministers

The change to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations will come into effect in the spring of next year.

When it takes effect directors of the firms involved in such practices will be individually liable for the fines of up to £500,000 for breaches of the law. At present such fines can only be levied on companies.