Businesses have been warned to check with Bradford Council before agreeing to have asbestos surveys carried out.

The Council has received a string of complaints from bosses of smaller companies about a Manchester firm which is cold calling them to say that they need compulsory checks at a cost of £290.

The firm, which the Council has declined to name, is now being investigated by West Yorkshire Trading Standards.

The Council has also complained to trading standards officers that the Manchester consultants have suggested to firms that it was acting on behalf of the authority's environmental health department and that the survey had to be carried out by law.

It has been alleged that some business owners have been threatened with jail sentences if they did not comply.

Environmental Health Manager Geoff Twentyman said: "Neither our environmental health department nor the Health and Safety Executive are involved in carrying out asbestos surveys, nor have they authorised any companies to do it on their behalf.

"Business proprietors do have a duty under the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 to assess their premises to determine whether asbestos is present or not.

"If asbestos is present, then the owner has a duty to either get it removed or make it safe.

"However, it is not always necessary for businesses to have a professional survey done.

"Where a professional asbestos surveyor is required, there are a number of local companies who are qualified."

Bradford's industrial past has left a legacy of asbestos in old buildings. Concern about the rising number of former workers who died from asbestos-related cancer led to the formation of the Bradford Asbestos Action Group.

The organisation, which is campaigning for compensation for people who contracted the disease at firms such as Associated Weavers, has also organised a series of health screening events for those involved in jobs which brought them into contact with the killer substance.