Cable and Wireless is fixing an error in its international directory assistance service which had resulted in customers being asked to provide their credit card numbers.

Customers dialling 00 for directory assistance have been prompted by an interactive voice recording (IVR) for credit card details to complete their call.

The service should have instructed customers looking for connections to numbers in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom to dial a separate number, for which they will be charged.

Earlier this year, BTC stopped providing international operator and international directory inquiry services because they are "labour and cost intensive," said a Cable and Wireless spokesman.

These services are now delivered by Cable and Wireless and TeleBermuda International.

A Cable and Wireless spokeswoman said: "We have identified the anomaly and have made immediate steps to have it rectified.

"The IVR message may have confused credit and calling cards with international directory assisted calls.

"Earlier this year, BTC made the business decision to terminate their international operator services which includes call assistance, collect calls and international directory assistance.

"Currently, Cable and Wireless provides access to directory assistance for our customers to Canada, the US and the UK.

"We are constantly working to expand the range of our directory assistance with our global partners and affiliates.

"While we have made a number of proposals to our partners and affiliates worldwide, we have been unsuccessful to date.

"Like BTC, telephone companies worldwide are moving away from 'operator type' services that are labour and cost intensive.

"The global trend for local telephone companies is to provide directory assistance information via the Internet in order to reduce the volume of operator traffic they receive."