The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found that 33% of online trading companies are breaking the rules established to protect buyers under the acts passed to protect the consumer from unfair trading.

The transgressions found in the 156 websites checked by the OFT, included added charges at a late stage of purchase and unreasonable refund procedures.

While not revealing the identity of the sites infringing consumer rights, the OFT has contacted all of them and have the power to force the online retailers to operate within the established legal retailing framework.