Opt-out text messaging service for nuisance calls planned by Ofcom

Some 72 per cent of British consumers have had at least one cold call from a company in the last month on their mobile

If you can prove you've kept a cold caller on the phone for an hour or more, you will receive special praise, possible fame and the thanks of a nation (Corbis)

British consumers harassed by unwanted calls will be able to send a text to opt-out under new plans unveiled by Ofcom, the industry watchdog.

Ofcom has been developing a process for people to register their mobile numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) by text. If a consumer is registered on the list, it will be illegal for businesses to call them with marketing calls.

Which? has already enabled over 50,000 people to register their mobiles with the TPS by texting OPT OUT to 80057.

Ofcom is also pursuing other techniques to help reduce nuisance calls, such as blocking calls from malformed numbers or monitoring call duration to identify numbers that persistently make calls of less than one second.

Nuisance calls are on the rise despite tougher actions demanded by a special task force over a year ago, according to consumer group Which? latest research for its Calling Time campaign.

Some 72 per cent of British consumers have had at least one cold call from a company in the last month on their mobile, up from just over half or 55 per cent, in 2013.

While unwanted calls to mobile phone are clearly on the rise, they remain most common on landline with 74 per cent of consumers receiving unwanted calls last month.

The Nuisance Calls and Texts Task Force acknowledged further action needs to be taken by businesses.

“Despite some good progress, we're still seeing high levels of unwanted calls and texts so more needs to be done to put an end to this everyday menace once and for all.

“The Government, regulators and business need to continue to work together to tackle this problem, with further action to cut nuisance calls off at source and make senior executives accountable if their company is caught flouting the rules,” said Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director.