OFT crackdown shuts three debt firms

Three debt-management firms have been shut in the latest crackdown on the sector by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The watchdog cancelled the credit licences of the Lancashire-based Welcome Solutions – which trades as debtsorters.co.uk – and Debt Connect of Manchester for "improper" business practices. It also said Cornwall's Rowena Koning was "not fit to operate a debt-management business".

Since the OFT's inquiry into rogue debt managers in 2010, more than 100 have exited the market or been refused licences.