Leeds Council has announced that it will take action against the building contractors found guilty by the Office of Fair Trading of colluding with competitors to charge higher prices for work.

In a statement, the council said that it would be “writing to a number of contractors this week seeking compensation”, and would consider taking further action.

It did not specify which companies would receive letters, but those named by the OFT as having engaged in cover pricing in the area include Carillion, Strata, Caddick, Richardson Projects, P Casey and Henry Boot.

The OFT found that 103 construction firms around the country were engaging in cover pricing, working with other firms to place artificial bids in order to secure higher prices for work.

YORbuild, a procurement consortium of local authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside, is deciding whether to blacklist firms found guilty by the OFT.