LOCAL businesses are being warned of potentially "disastrous consequences" if they do not update their computer systems before the end of the century.

The majority of computers are not programmed to recognise the change of century, using only two digits of any year.

This means that computer clocks hitting January 1, 2000 will crash because they do not recognise 00 or assume the year is 1900.

Prospective Tory parliamentary candidate for Bolton North-east Robert Wilson has now written to companies in his constituency warning them of the danger.

Some airline companies are already reporting they cannot book flights for the next millennium and banks are having problems issuing credit cards which expire after 1999.

Mr Wilson said: "We need this problem out in the open and businessmen to start taking action to solve it. If bigger companies haven't made plans by early next year it may be too late to save all their information and make repairs to their systems."

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