A BUSINESSMAN has been ordered to pay a £35,000 bill by phone company Orange - despite never having been a customer of the firm.

Mike Scott, of Darlington, was stunned to receive a letter from a debt collection agency giving him seven days to pay the bill.

With the threat of a visit from bailiffs looming over him, Mr Scott contacted the police to ask them to find out who had been running up the bills in his name.

"It's laughable," he said last night. "I've never even had a phone with Orange.

"I just can't believe for a second anyone could run up that kind of bill."

Mr Scott, who owns Darlington firm DK Kitchens, said it was the third time since New Year's Eve that he had been sent a bill by Orange.

On the previous two occasions, he was ordered to pay £500 and £1,500, but after challenging the bills, was told the company's inhouse fraud unit would deal with the complaints.

But when a third bill arrived, this time for £34,928, he decided to go to the police.

He said: "The first two times, I wasn't too fussed, but when I got a bill for £35,000 through the letterbox I decided it was time to go to the police.

"Orange told me on New Year's Eve, when I got the first bill, that there were three accounts set up in my name. I wanted to go to the police straight away.

"They told me not to worry, that nothing would happen, they were looking into it and that I shouldn't go down that route.

"So I left it with them and then I got another bill."

Mr Scott said the bills had arrived at a stressful time, as he was working hard to reopen his kitchen warehouse following flooding last year.

An spokeswoman for Orange said: "Orange is currently investigating Mr Scott's case and we will continue to liaise with him in order to resolve the issue."