Defective goods, substandard service and poor information are estimated to be costing British consumers around £8.3 billion per year.

The figure works out at around £180 per person every year, the Office of Fair Trading said. "The research confirms what we have believed for some time, that complaints to trading standards departments that are currently running at nearly one million a year represent only a small fraction of overall consumer problems, which are estimated to top 85 million cases per year," said John Bridgeman, Director General of Fair Trading.

Second-hand cars are the most complained about item, with trading standards departments dealing with 90,000 cases last year. They are followed by radio, TV and other electrical goods at 70,000, home maintenance at 66,000 and clothing and clothing fabrics at 47,000.

Food and drink top the list of problems which go unreported at 4.2 million. Next comes telephone and mobile phone services 3.8 million; personal clothing, shoes and jewellery - 3.4 million; gas, water and electricity - 3.4 million and banks, building societies, direct debits etc - 2.9 million.

The most common problems encountered are with defective goods or substandard services, which account for nearly half of all consumer woes. These were followed by cases involving unfair selling techniques, misleading claims and misinformation.

Problems getting faults put right or obtaining adequate redress were present in roughly 11 per cent of cases. "This research gives some indication of the huge problem which confronts consumer protection authorities like the OFT and trading standards," said Mr Bridgeman. "It also supports the current review of consumer protection laws."

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