Victims of cold callers will be able to blacklist persistent offenders at the touch of a button for the first time.
In what will be seen as a new front in the war on nuisance callers, fed-up householders will be allowed to block the firms from ringing under a system that will use technology to identify them even when they change numbers.
Almost half of all calls received by people on their home phones are thought to come from cold callers, often trying to sell services or products.
The figure is thought to be even higher for elderly people who are also targeted by conmen and fraudsters posing as salesmen.
In the past harassed customers have often had to sign up to expensive blocking services in order to tackle the problem, but have often been frustrated by offenders simply changing their numbers.
But now a new free system being introduced is promising to help tackle the issue by diverting nuisance calls before they reach a person's home.
The system, being rolled out by BT, will allow customers to blacklist unwanted callers and will then use technology to identify them even when they change their numbers.
In addition nuisance calls that come from regular numbers can be blacklisted by the customer by simply dialling 1572 after the call or going online.
Nuisance callers identified by large numbers of customers will also be added to the list.
More than 15 million phone calls a week are thought to be made by personal accident and Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) companies alone, and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates marketing calls, says it receives more than 14,000 complaints about nuisance calls every month.
Last year the Government announced that the bosses of companies that continually plague people would be personally liable for fines of up to £500,000.
Ministers also closed a loophole that had allowed company directors to claim bankruptcy for firms that were fined, thereby "dodging" payment.
But BT believes its new system will be capable of eradicating much of the problem overnight by stopping the incoming calls.
Digital Minister Matt Hancock welcomed the introduction of the new initiative and said the Government was determined to help tackle the problem.
He said: "Nuisance callers are a terrible blight on society and Government and industry are working together to crack down on them.
"We've forced companies to display their numbers when they call you, made it easier to prosecute those involved in making the calls and increased the maximum fines up to £500,000.
"We welcome BT's new service, which offers customers an additional level of protection, helping them to fight back against this ongoing harassment."
John Petter, chief executive of BT Consumer, said: "We've been at the forefront of equipping our customers to defend themselves against the huge numbers of PPI and unwanted marketing calls that are continuing to grow.
"Now, with our unique technology, we can identify and tackle huge numbers of those calls in the network and also give our customers control over the calls they receive."
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