SMALL businesses have been left in the lurch by Government officials who promised to help them prepare for tough new EU data law, The Sun can reveal.
A hotline for entrepreneurs has gone into meltdown - with callers facing a wait of up to half an hour and officials urging businesses NOT to contact them for help.
Bosses of small firms are having “sleepless nights” worrying about the new rules on data handling, known as GDPR, with business lobbies slamming the “sorry situation”.
The law - coming into effect in May - makes it illegal for companies to contact most customers without their explicit consent and imposes fines as large as £18million on firms which break it.
Four months ago, the Information Commissioner’s Office announced it was setting up a dedicated helpline for small firms worried about adapting to GDPR.
But business sources told The Sun they’ve had to wait up to half an hour on hold before getting through to the Government body.
The ICO admitted the helpline has been overwhelmed - and said anyone who needs help fast should get it online or speak to an industry group instead of calling the official advice service.
A spokesman said: “We’d like to apologise to callers who are having to wait longer than we’d like. The SME helplines have been extremely busy.
Sales consultant Antonio Falco, who advises firms under the title “The Sales Director”, said he was worried GDPR would wipe out his business.
Mr Falco said he eventually realised that most of his work could continue - but warned that other firms would struggle because of the lack of official information available.
A survey by the Federation of Small Businesses found the average firm has to pay more than £1,000 to get ready for GDPR, along with an annual cost of £1,500 to comply with data laws.
FSB chairman Mike Cherry said: “As the deadline approaches, all eyes will be on the Information Commissioner’s Office and whether or not they can successfully deal with the increase in small businesses trying to get help and support.