A new study by regulator Ofcom into the extent to which nuisance calls are affecting UK consumers found consumers who experienced unwanted calls received around two per week on average, with four in five receiving at least one nuisance call during the four-week research period.

Calls about PPI claims made up 22% of all nuisance calls, rising to 51% of identifiable unwanted recorded sales calls.

Energy (10%), market research (10%) and insurance (8%) were also among the most commonly cited reasons for unwanted calls.

The most widespread types of nuisance calls were live marketing calls (38%), followed by silent calls (34%) and recorded sales calls (14%).

Ofcom announced today that it is investigating suspected abandoned and silent calls made by companies within the claims management sector, and has called on other authorities to help address the problem.

The regulator says it will use the ‘full extent of its legal powers’ to pursue companies responsible for these ‘distressing’ unwanted calls.

Claudio Pollack, Ofcom’s consumer group director, said: “Two nuisance calls a week is too many and this detailed research will help us understand the root cause of the problem.

“We will use the full range of our powers to tackle abandoned and silent calls, but this is a complex area that requires joint action from a number of different agencies and Government.”

Ofcom fined telecoms company TalkTalk £750,000 last month for breaking the regulators rules on unwanted and silent calls. This followed a £750,000 fine against Homeserve in April 2012.

Richard Lloyd, executive director at Which?, said: “Ofcom’s shocking findings reflect our own research and show just how many of us are being bombarded by the menace of unwanted calls and texts.

“Today we see three of the regulators starting to step up and respond to the public outcry, with the Office of Fair Trading and the Information Commissioner also getting a grip on how companies collect and use consumers’ personal details, data that is sold on to third parties and used to generate unsolicited calls and texts.

“They must use this intelligence and get tough when they find the rules have been broken by hitting those responsible with heavy fines.”