THE Consumers’ Association is to close down its Which? Web Trader service, which monitors the standards of more than 2,300 internet retailers and reassures shoppers that they are dealing with reputable businesses.

The service, which was launched in June 1999, has been hugely popular with companies operating online shopping services.

Retailers that sign up to Which? Web Trader are vetted by the association’s lawyers and are checked by mystery shoppers. They are then allowed to use the Which? logo on their site.

This acts as a kind of guarantee for consumers who can be confident that an online retailer has met certain basic legal requirements to ensure secure shopping.

But the Consumers’ Association has decided that it is no longer viable to run the service, which is free of charge to internet retailers. It will be closed at the end of this month.

The firms that have registered with the scheme were informed of the decision in an e-mail from the association.

“Providing such an effective and well-monitored scheme costs a significant amount each year and as a charity and campaigning organisation we need to use our resources in the most efficient way possible,” wrote Paul Kitchen, head of online.

Kitchen declined to elaborate on the reasons for the closure, but said a full announcement would be made tomorrow.

Online retailers have reacted with dismay to the closure, in part because the service has helped them to boost sales.

Nick Allen, owner of Digibattery.co.uk, a specialist battery retailer, said: “This is a retrograde step for UK internet commerce, particularly for small to medium-sized companies that are not household names.”

Gary Arnold, who runs the jewellery site Shinyrocks.co.uk, said: “I’m not over the moon about it. The service gives shoppers a bit more confidence.”

The Consumers’ Association will continue other online activities, such as making its publications available on the internet.