A FERVENT football supporter's passion for his team has ended up costing him "an arm and a leg" in phone bills.

Lole Carey wanted West Ham United's logo of a Smiley Face on his mobile phone, so the Worcester father-of-four rang a company offering the service in a national newspaper.

But after seven phone calls - and a bill for £33 - the father-of-four has been left angry and concerned for other parents.

"I thought I'd get a picture, so I went for West Ham," said the 41-year-old, who has supported the team since he was 11.

"I dialled the relevant number, but I'd ring, and then half way through, after the voice had said it's £2 up until now, it just clicked off. I kept trying and at one point my phone beeped, as it's supposed to when the image comes through, but there was still nothing there."

Mr Carey, whose three eldest children, aged 16, 14 and 13, all have mobile phones, is concerned at what he feels is misleading advertising, which could lead to hundreds of pounds in phone bills for parents.

"I really wanted it, so I tried again," said Mr Carey, of Vigornia Avenue, Lansdowne.

"I was trying two different companies at the same time because I really wanted it. One kept going 'beep, beep, beep' but nothing appeared, and one kept cutting out halfway through."

Mr Carey said he had been encouraged to try an image after his attempt at getting a tune had worked.

"I first tried I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles which is the theme tune for West Ham, and that went straight though," he said.

A spokesman for Netvision Interactive, which runs the technical support for various ring tone companies, said certain phones could sometimes "get stuck in a loop"

"If the customer was using an analogue phone, the computer would not have been able to interpret the signal and he would have become stuck in a loop," said Mark Whelan, of Netvision Interactive.

"Unfortunately for him, he tried it quite a few times," he added.

He said there was a two-and-a-half minute cut-off to protect customers.

"It's a security thing - to protect the company so people can't abuse the service but also to protect the customer, so people can't stay on the line for 48 hours."

He said Mr Carey should contact him directly and the company would "happily" reimburse the money.