People plagued by junk mail and telesales calls may get some relief after the council agreed to remove residents' names from the electoral roll before it is sold to companies.

Wandsworth makes around £8,000 a year from selling copies of the electoral register to businesses, which use the information to send out promotional material and to cold-call potential customers.

But a recent High Court decision has made it illegal for councils not to give voters the opportunity to have their names removed from the register before it is sold to firms.

The ruling comes after a man in Wakefield refused to complete his registration form unless he was guaranteed his details would not be passed to businesses.

The council refused his request, but he sought and won a judicial review, which ruled it could not be made a condition of his right to vote that his details be sold for commercial purposes.

In light of this decision the council is waiting for guidance from the Electoral Commission and the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) on how residents can be consulted over whether they wish to have their names removed.

The government has proposed an edited version is sold to companies with the details removed of people who do not wish to appear.

In the meantime, the council has suspended the sale of the register for commercial purposes.

December 14, 2001 11:00