The Department of Trade and Industrys claims that it has upped the ante in its war against rogue directors have been dismissed by an industry expert.


ICSM partner David Whitaker said the DTI was "only paying lip-service to a very serious issue".


"We encounter abuse of the system all the time in some cases its blatant," he said. "I report 15 to 20 cases a year to the DTI, but Id be lucky if they acted on two of those. If you dont push them they simply wont act."


Whitaker added that the DTI needed to seriously commit resources to tackle corrupt directors, instead of its recent introduction of a voluntary disqualification scheme.


"Information is readily available on directors and companies it only takes minutes and wont hold up a quote. If youre giving 40,000 of credit, you should know who youre dealing with," said Whitaker.


Last year the courts issued a record 1,502 disqualification orders, 1% more than in 1999. Disqualification proceedings in England and Wales also rose to 1,593, up 8% on the previous year.


A total of 39 directors from the paper and publishing sectors were disqualified.


A spokeswoman for the DTI said: "Were targeting those who deliberately set out to defraud the public or others. With the DTIs Directors Hotline, were trying to make the public more aware, and get them to call."


Since it was set up three years ago, the Hotline has received over 2,300 calls and led to 12 convictions.


Story by John Davies