A GOVERNMENT crackdown on companies behind unwanted cold calls has been welcomed by Keighley MP Kris Hopkins.

From April 6 firms will be more at risk of facing fines of up to £500,000 if they are found to have used cold calls and nuisance texts to gain business. Under existing laws, companies can only face sanction if the Information Commissioner’s Office can prove that unwanted calls and texts have caused “substantial damage or substantial distress”.

Mr Hopkins, who is also Local Government Minister, said: “The problem of cold calling is one that a great many of my Keighley and Ilkley constituents have raised.”