Help at hand for nuisance calls

Orkney Islands Council has taken delivery of special devices which can block unwanted calls.

Available through OIC’s Trading Standards Service, the ‘call prevention’ boxes filter calls for the householder, limiting them to trusted callers only. They are being made freely available to a number of elderly or vulnerable residents, as part of a national project to reduce the impact of nuisance and scam calls.

Trading Standards Officer, Alison Campbell, said: “We already have some names of people who will benefit from this technology, but we’re looking for more people to be signed up, so that all of the boxes can be utilised.

“I’d urge people to get in touch with us if they believe they have or a friend or relative who would benefit from a call blocking box – installing one can remove the stress of receiving persistent, unwanted calls.

“We’ll be focussing on supplying them to people who are already finding the number of calls they receive too much to cope with, or who have previously been caught out by a scam call.”

For further information contact Trading Standards at the Council on 01856 873535 or by e-mail to trading.standards@orkney.gov.uk.