CALLS to 118 directory; Business IN BRIEF.

CALLS to 118 directory enquiries are much more expensive than consumers think.

Which? magazine polled around 2000 people about the cost of 118 calls. Their average estimate was that a typical call would cost 33p from a landline and 64p from a mobile.

The true cost from landlines to the most-used 118 services - 118 118 and 118 500 - was around pounds 1, assuming the caller wrote down the number. Calls from mobiles could cost pounds 2. The magazine suggested using a free internet service or a mobile phone network's preferred directory service.