Senior lawyers yesterday hit out at calls for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate access to affordable justice in Scotland.

The move follows the revelation in The Herald that Which? the consumer charity, has sent the OFT a "super-complaint" urging it to address concerns that regulation of the legal profession in Scotland hinders market competition and restricts access to affordable legal representation.

The Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates last night suggested the super-complaint was unnecessary and it would be better to discuss concerns with the groups involved. They fear that deregulation of the legal profession could erode consumer protection.

The Scottish Consumer Council last night backed the concerns of Which? and the need for an investigation.

Super-complaints can be made to the OFT when a designated consumer body thinks that a feature, or combination of features, of a market is, or appears to be, significantly harming consumers' interests.

The super-complaint comes ahead of reforms south of the border which will allow banks and supermarkets to join forces with legal firms and provide legal services, after a review by Sir David Clementi.

The Scottish Executive set up a working group on the legal services market north of the border which concluded that Scotland should not follow England and Wales.

Michael Clancy, the Law Society of Scotland's director of law reform, said it was disappointed that it had not been sent the complaint or had the opportunity to discuss concerns with Which? He said the working group had included representation from the OFT.

"The group examined the different legal services operating in Scotland, identified restrictions which might prevent, limit or distort competition and examined access to justice, public interest and consumer protection factors that might justify such restrictions," he said.

"The group also evaluated whether the restriction was proportionate. It concluded that overall the evidence backed the case for non-intervention, and assumed that market forces would keep supply and demand in balance.

"The report also concluded that the objectives of consumer protection and the administration of justice had to be balanced against those of competition."

A Faculty of Advocates spokesman said: "The structure of the legal profession in Scotland is likely to be addressed in the new parliamentary session following the report of the Scottish Executive Research Working Group on the provision of legal services published in May last year.

"The faculty would expect that the appropriate place for consideration of the structure of the legal profession in Scotland is within that legislative framework."

The Scottish Consumer Council believes there are "systematic problems in the way legal services are structured and regulated".

Douglas Sinclair, its chairman, said: "We believe that there is a strong case for opening up competition in the market for legal services in Scotland. Action by the OFT should help open up a market that has for too long neglected consumers and put the vested interests of lawyers first."