Customer takes BT to court

A BT customer is to take the company to court today over cash charges to customers who do not pay by direct debit.

Solicitor Ros Fernihough, aged 62, claims the telephone company is unfairly penalising its cash-paying customers.

The grandmother of seven, a BT customer since 1964, pays her bill in cash at her local bank, incurring a handling fee of £4.50 (€5.70) per quarter.

She will make her case, brought under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations of 1999, at Walsall County Court later today.

Speaking to GMTV from her Sutton Coldfield home, Mrs Fernihough said she thought her chances in court were “50/50”.

She added: “£4.50 (€5.70) may not be much to someone who is working with a reasonable job but if you are on a state pension it is crucial.”