Businesses are being warned to ignore letters demanding them to pay £95 to false Data Protection Registration companies.

Hundreds of letters have been sent to firms in the county telling them to send a payment, or face fines up to £5,000.

The offical-looking letters claim to have been sent by the Data Protection Enforcement Agency, and tell companies they have a statutory obligation to pay the fee to join a national register.

Many have been posted to companies based on business parks.

Jenny Riley, owner of Jenny Riley and Associates, based at Harwell Innovation Centre, near Didcot, said she was almost fooled because her letter looked so genuine.

She said: "It was very professional-looking and included payment forms and details of the Data Protection Act 1998.

"I wasn't sure what to do about it, so I spoke to my accountant and he told me it was false.

"I ignored the letter, but then a few weeks later a final notice came through telling me it was illegal not to register.

"I'm worried that some small businesses might be tricked."

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas, who is responsible for co-ordinating the Government-run Data Protection scheme, said the problem had spread across the country and advised businesses to notify police if they received a letter.

He said: "I advise businesses to ignore any approach made by these companies, who appear to be charging up to £95, plus VAT for notification.

"Other than paying the annual statutory notification fee of £35, on which no VAT is payable, there is no charge made by this office to any data controller wishing to notify."

Mr Thomas advised anyone wishing to complain about false correspondence to contact Trading Standards.

For more advice, call 01625 545740.