North East Somerset Citizens Advice Bureau have joined a national campaign demanding a consumer bill to outlaw dubious trading.

The Midsomer Norton based CAB are inviting the public to pick up a pre-written "stop shark practices" postcard to petition for reforms in the 1973 Fair Trading Act.

CAB services manager Stephen Joseph said: "Unscrupulous traders are getting away with preying on consumers and ripping them off.

"Every day we see people who have been conned by cowboys, threatened and harassed by debt collectors or affected by home-working scams."

The card demands a consumer bill which will outlaw unfair practices, stop fraudulent home-working schemes and stamp on oppressive debt collection.

According to a document released by Mr Joseph, cases of debt collection harassment have been registered in Timsbury and Peasedown-St-John.

Both cases involved women who were described as frightened, with the Peasedown-St-John resident staying away to avoid the loan companies' visits.

Another case in the CAB document describes a company's refusal to negotiate repayment from a Paulton man suffering with mental health problems.

Part of a joint campaign run with the National Consumer Council, The National Association of Citizens Bureaux receive one million debt-related complaints annually.

Both agencies aim to persuade the Government to introduce new laws to protect consumers when Parliament opens later this month.

The Office of Fair Trading backs the law reforms, reporting around one million complaints a year about goods made to localised trading standards officers.

Threatening debt collection, home-working schemes and unfair behaviour will be tackled by the law reforms, according to the national CAB report.

Mr Joseph said: "I hope as many people as possible will send in a card, so the Government will see how strongly people feel about this.

"The current law is failing consumers badly, but together we can get it changed."

The Midsomer Norton based B&NES CAB is open Monday to Thursday 10am - 2pm and Tuesday 10am-12pm.

The free facility is at the Town Hall, The Island, Midsomer Norton.