Phone book mix-up baffles businesses

Businesses are afraid customers will not find them

Dozens of businesses say they are facing a loss of trade because of a listing error in a telephone directory.

More than 160,000 copies of British Telecom's (BT) new phone book for south Lincolnshire and parts of Cambridgeshire have been distributed with up to 40 pages listed in the wrong order.

BT has admitted the phone book pages were printed in error, but says nothing can be done.

BT spokesman Paul Durrell said: "The information is correct, but it is just in the wrong order.

Binding process

"All we can do is apologise, but we are not going to reprint the book as the information is correct at directory inquiries."

He said it was a mistake during the binding process for the Peterborough and Huntingdon directory.

Economic development officer Brian Smith of South Holland District Council says: "We depend very largely on the telephone directory and it is of paramount importance, and is regrettably that these mistakes have been made."

The areas affected include companies in Spalding, Bourne, Holbeach and Market Deeping in Lincolnshire as well as Peterborough and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

Catherine Cox of the Horse Shoe Garage in Pinchbeck near Spalding says something so simple should not have gone wrong.

She says: "It will cause us some inconvenience, but fortunately we are also in the Yellow Pages."