Age discrimination continues to split the recruitment industry, with agencies caught between abiding by the law and giving clients what they want, comments made on www.recruiter.co.uk have revealed.

The divide in attitude follows research from business information provider Croner, which found that age discrimination is quickly becoming the most common form of discrimination.

One recruiter, Hazel Garside, told recruiter.co.uk: "A professional recruiter should not find it difficult, even in a very competitive market, to put forward the most suitable candidates, irrespective of age, race and sex. It makes me angry to think that the hard work in educating the marketplace to the benefits of non-discriminatory practice, put in by the better recruitment professionals out there, is negated by others."

Another reader agreed: "I don't care how much the invoice value is or how much the commission is worth, I would not break the law for my clients and my clients know that."

However, one recruiter told us that although he hates discrimination, it will always exist because of the competition in the industry. "Employers deliberately use agencies as a conduit to safely practice discrimination.

"My clients make it clear not just the technical level of the candidate they need, but also the age, sex, ethnicity and social background they want and need. Putting the job to three or four agencies means I do not have the luxury of providing anything but the 'ideal candidate'," he said.