A MUM who put a block on calling mobile phones from her home landline still ended up with a massive bill from BT after her teenage daughter used the 118 118 service to get ‘patched through’ to her friends.

Debbie Render said she was horrified when her quaterly bill - which normally averages £80 - came in instead at just under £250.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes at first,” said Debbie, from Beechcroft Road, Wallasey.

“I contacted BT to find out what on earth was going on and I found out that 111 calls had been made to this 118 118 service.

“I’ve never used that service myself so I asked my seventeen-year-old daughter if she ever had, and that’s when I got to the bottom of it.

“She’d been dialling that number, giving the operator the number she wanted to get through to, and after she told them she was the bill payer they patched her through.

“The problem is that it costs 79p just to ring 118 and then it’s 29p a minute once they connect you.

“My daughter has been silly and she knows she’s in trouble. But I’m more angry with 118 - I thought they were just there to help you find a telephone number, not put you through to a service that’s specifically been barred.”

Debbie added: “I just want to make sure other parents know about this, because I know I’m not the only one to put a mobile ban on my landline.

“All the kids have mobiles these days but what they don’t often have is the means to pay the bill. I think it’s pretty disgraceful that 118 118 have this service at all, but at least if parents know about it now they can get 118 118 blocked from their landline.”

A spokesman for 118 118 told the Globe: “This is a service that we offer but it is not one that we advertise.

“We ask every caller in good faith if they are the bill payer no matter and if they confirm that they are, we will put them through.

“If people don’t want access to the service then we suggest they contact their service provider and have our number blocked.”