March 1, 2001 16:41: A MOBILE phone company is £6,000 out of pocket after giving customers misleading information which led to them having to fork out extra cash for calls.

Lumina Ltd, a BT Cellnet company, appeared at Wycombe Magistrates Court on February 14 for two offences relating to false and misleading information concerning the cost of calls.

David Collinson, from Buckinghamshire Trading Standards, prosecuting, said after the case that some customers had ended up paying up to four times the advertised rate for calls.

He told the court the company had launched a mailshot campaign stating that the cost of calls on a mobile phone package was "2p per minute for all off-peak calls" and included "500 minutes of off-peak calls provided free of charge".

However, the court heard how a High Wycombe customer, despite assurances by telesales staff that the offer was accurate, found when his first bill arrived that the cheap rate did not apply to all calls as stated.

It was also established that only under certain circumstances were 500 minutes of off-peak calls free.

Lumina Ltd, based in Runcorn, Cheshire, trading as Martin Dawes Telecommunications Ltd at the time, said the cause of the false and misleading statements was due to a failure to have the mailshot legally checked.

The company was fined £3,000 for each of the two offences and ordered to pay £581 prosecution costs.