A WOMAN from Ebbw Vale is facing a telephone charge of more than £300 - after calling just one premium line number.

Elizabeth O'Connor, of Ty Llwyn, says that her daughter, Patricia, received a text message telling her she had won a competition - providing a telephone number to call to claim the prize.

Mrs O'Connor, 59, says her daughter called the number, but was connected for only around a minute before putting down the receiver.

"But a couple of days later I got a telephone call from BT," she said.

"The man said it was a courtesy call, and was I aware that my bill would be £400 for this quarter?

"I said it couldn't possibly be - but they said I am liable for the bill."

BT said the call, made on July 3, had lasted around four hours and the cost of it is £313.52

Now Mrs O'Connor has been to the Citizens' Advice Bureau and is contacting trading standards in Blaenau Gwent to find out more about her position.

And she is warning other people not to fall victim to the same type of scam - and never to respond to such messages.

"I'm only on about £75 a week - I can't possibly afford this," she told the Argus.

A BT spokesman told the Argus that they have now advised Mrs O'Connor to contact the mobile phone watchdog ICSTIS.

He stressed that "the vast majority" of the money for her call would not go to BT, but to the service provider - and that she needed to contact them in order to try to resolve the situation.

After being alerted to the incident by the Argus, a spokesman for ICSTIS said it is now investigating the various breaches of its code of practice - and is still attempting to track down the service provider.

* Contact ICSTIS on 0800 500 212 or visit www.icstis.org.uk