The Competition Appeal Tribunal slashed the penalties in April against Hays, Eden Brown and AndersElite.

The huge fines were originally imposed in September 2009 following an OFT probe into price fixing in the construction recruitment sector.

The OFT has been considering an appeal against the decision but confirmed today that it would live with reductions.

A statement said: “The OFT has decided not to appeal the judgment of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in the Construction Recruitment Forum case.

“We note that the judgment was only about the level of penalties for three companies and that the Tribunal upheld our view of the nature of the infringements, stating that this was ‘a very serious violation of competition law’.”

The OFT is still considering whether to appeal against huge cuts in fines handed out to contractors following its cover-pricing probe across the construction industry.