A “NUISANCE” call centre handed one of the biggest fines in consumer history is entering liquidation, according to letters sent to its former employees.

Earlier this month, The Gazette was contacted by staff at Media Tactics, based in Chineham Business Park, who said the firm “had let all its employees go” as a result of it being fined £270,000 by the Information Commissioner’ s Office (ICO) for making 22 million nuisance calls to people across the country.

If Media Tactics, which also operates as Road Accident Consult, enters liquidation the huge penalty owed to the ICO would see the organisation become a creditor to the former company.

When the firm was fined last month, the ICO said staff at Media Tactics had left some consumers “too frightened to answer any calls at all”.

But, with new legislation being put through by government, directors will soon be faced with the fine – and not the companies.

An ICO spokesperson said it would continue to chase the unpaid fine by working with the Insolvency Service.

It added: “While, in some respects, it marks a frustrating end to our investigations it’s worth noting that when nuisance call companies go out of business, they stop making calls. And that’s a successful outcome.

“We’ve been calling for a change to the law and are pleased the government plans to introduce fines for company directors heading up nuisance call firms.

“This should put an end to directors making large amounts of money from nuisance calls and texts, only to try and duck away from the fine when they’re caught.”

The Gazette has been contacted by staff from the call centre wh o claim it has now left them with “unpaid wages”.

This newspaper attempted several times to contact Media Tactics to ask whether the company had gone into liquidation and how it intended to pay the fine, but no response was forthcoming.

In a letter seen by The Gazette, Media Tactics confirm the company has gone into liquidation, but employees looking to claim back unpaid wages would have to wait for the company to formally be taken over by a liquidator.

The letter said: “There is a process that the company needs to go through in order to appoint a liquidator. The process has begun and a liquidator should be appointed within the next 21 to 28 days, at which point we will contact with the necessary claim.”

It is hoped the new legislation, which could see firm directors fined up to £500,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office if they are found to be in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, will deter firms from going into liquidation if it has been charged with a heavy penalty.

Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham said: “The people running nuisance call companies have lit tle regard for the anxiety and upset they cause all in the name of turning a fast profit.

“Making directors responsible will stop them ducking away fro m fines by putting their company into liquidation. It will stop them leaving by the back door as the regulator comes through the front door.”