Fears over genetically-modified food are being used to separate Bradford businesses from their cash.

Questionnaires about the GM controversy are being faxed out to companies by London-based 20th Century Fax.

The company claims it is conducting a survey and the results will be sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair and other Government ministers and environment groups like Friends of the Earth.

Another company, called Top 20 Ltd, offers a "faxback" service, sending out details on how to become a part-time market researcher, how to go on a crash diet or how to pick up 100 great quotes from Shakespeare to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both ask recipients to use a premium rate fax number for their replies.

A spokesman for both companies denied the public was being conned and claimed information on the costs was clearly printed on the original mailshots.

The recipient of the poll fax is asked to tick one of two boxes - either stating GM food is safe or unsafe - and return the answers by fax.

But the small print at the bottom of the questionnaire reveals the fax uses a premium rate 0331 line. It states it will cost a minimum of £1 a minute and will take between one and three minutes to return the answer.

IT consultant Graham Lee, of Dale Croft Rise, Allerton, has received faxes from both companies. He said he was almost tempted to reply - until he read the small print at the bottom of the page. "I used to work in an office and I can imagine someone sending it back without reading the small print - making the firm £3 out of pocket," he said.

The small print from Top 20 Ltd again states the faxback service will cost a minimum of £1 a minute - but this time the information will take about four to nine minutes to come through.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards divisional manager Paul Cooper said unwanted junk fax will be a thing of the past from May.

"At the moment we regularly receive complaints from business who are sent unsolicited faxes," he said.

"They ultimately cost the firms money because they use up fax paper and tie up the machine unnecessarily.

"But the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) (Direct Marketing) Regulations 1998 will come into force in May and will ban the sending of unwanted faxes. Anyone who receives them will be able to register on a centralised list if they do not want to receive any more unwanted faxes and it will then be illegal for these fax companies to send any more.

"The companies sending out the faxes will be required to supply an address and phone number so the public can request their own name and details are removed from the firm's data base."

Mr Cooper said the regulations will be enforced by the Data Protection Registrar's Office which ultimately has the power to take an operator off the fax network if it ignores warnings about junk transmissions.

'We are only doing what others do'

Gordon Ritchie, managing director of Top 20 Ltd and a director of 20th Century Fax Ltd, defended the premium rate lines and said the prices were clearly explained.

"We do nothing different to The Sun or the Daily Star newspapers with their premium rate phone opinion polls," he said.

"It is a modern form of lobbying and with the last poll we did on duty-free shops, we sent the results to the Prime Minister and got a letter of thanks back.

"The polls are a money-making exercise in most cases, but we do do some for free.

"People do not have to fax their replies back - they can post them. But when we put that fact on a previous poll, we found most could not be bother to mail them. We may reinstate it in the future."

Mr Ritchie said he was also a director of a third fax poll or information service called Second Telecom.

"We have about 1.4 million fax numbers and we get about 50,000 responses every time we do a poll - and most are not bothered about the cost.

"It is not in our interest to fax people who don't want to be faxed - they can opt out by phoning us and asking for their number to be taken off our database."

Holiday couple so grateful to the T&

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A Haworth couple have said a big thank you to Rights and Wrongs after battling in vain for compensation for a holiday disaster.

In January we reported how Brian and Mavis Uttley had to cut short their stay in Spain in September because of illness in the family.

Since then they have been trying to get a refund on the £138 for the two plane tickets home, which they claim should have been covered by insurance.

Following calls from Rights and Wrongs to the travel company and the loss adjusters, the couple have been given some cash back.

Mr Uttley, 65, said: "Through your help we have got a victory and I just want to thank you for everything you have done.

"We had spent three months getting nowhere before we contacted you.

"We didn't get the full amount because we have had to pay an insurance excess but we have more than we did before we rang you."

Doorstep reps and how to deal with the

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Advice on dealing with doorstep sales reps is being given out by Yorkshire Electricity.

The company says householders should stay in control when it comes to reps trying to persuade them to change suppliers.

A spokesman said: "The opening up of the gas and electricity markets has led to a great deal of door-to-door sales activity as companies have attempted to win new customers."

Rights & Wrongs has highlighted a number of complaints from readers who have had problems with the transfer to a new gas or electricity supplier.

YE says householders should:

1. Beware aggressive selling tactics and do not feel pressurised.

2. Pay nothing up front because new customers do not have to pay to switch suppliers.

3. Read the contract carefully and remember you have at least a seven-day cooling-off period in which to cancel.

4. Choose a reliable company.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.