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Sky has joined the fight against nuisance calls with Sky Talk Shield, a free screening service where customers can block calls before they are connected. It follows BT’s free Call Protect service, launched earlier this year, that diverts customers’ unwanted calls to a junk voicemail.

Santander has reduced rates on mortgages for firsttime buyers using the Government’s Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme with 25% deposits. It now offers a 1.39% two-year fix and 2.44% five-year fix, both with a £999 fee.

More than one million people in work rely on Housing Benefit to meet their rent costs. Poverty charity Turn2us says this shows just how vulnerable many people in work are.

Debenhams and electricals website AO World have been dumped from the FTSE 250. The pair were relegated to the FTSE small cap index, based on their stock market value. Security firm G4S has been promoted to the FTSE 100.