The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said DialADeal Scotland Ltd (DDSL) made the calls about non-existent Green Deal energy saving schemes including boiler and window replacement, loft insulation and home improvement grants.

The calls were made to telephone numbers which had been registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) where people had not given their permission to receive them. This is against the law.

The calls, which were made between August 2019 and March 2020, generated more than 500 complaints to the ICO and the TPS by TPS subscribers, one of the highest numbers received.

The complaints suggested that DDSL had used several false trading names and the ICO’s investigation found that the company also disguised the telephone numbers they were calling from, which is also illegal.

Ken Macdonald, head of ICO regions, said: ”Dial A Deal were breaking the law on a number of fronts, not only were they making calls to people without their permission, they were also hiding their identity using false names and spoof numbers.

“Calls about Green Deal schemes can be a real problem as people often believe they are legitimate but, thanks to the complaints made by the public, we’ve been able to take action.

“Companies making similar nuisance calls should take note, we use our powers where we see serious breaches of the law.”