An eye care company has been warned by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to stop sending nuisance text messages or face enforcement action.

More than 4,600 people registered concerns about Optical Express (Westfield) Limited in just seven months, reporting the unsolicited messages to the mobile phone networks’ Spam Reporting Service, indicating that they had not given permission for the company to use their personal details for direct marketing.

The Glasgow-based business, which has branches across the UK, had been sending out messages that included details of a competition to win free laser eye surgery.

It is a breach of the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) to send text messages to people for marketing purposes without their prior consent.

The ICO has published guidance explaining the legal requirements under the Data Protection Act and the PECR. The guidance covers the circumstances in which organisations are able to carry out marketing activities over the telephone, by text, by email, by post or by fax.

A copy of the guidance is available here. A copy of the enforcement notice issued to Optical Express (Westfield) Limited is available here.