Paul,
I have (as many have) come across this problem due to misregistration of resist at the PCB fab. You didn't say if these boards are inexpensive double sided or costly multis. I know this shouldn't make a difference on quality but I would tend to make noise in proportion to the costs.
You do not really want to 100% inspect incoming boards / panels etc; but a sample inspection never hurts.
Discuss this with purchasing and QA (and supplier). Has the supplier maintained a good vendor rating ? Are they normally very good and this is a hiccup ? Is it a new / diferent supplier ? ( Has purchasing started using "Boards 'R' Us" ? ) You should pass this problem back to your supplier.Reject the boards and ask them to explain how this has happened and what preventative measures they will enforce so that it doesn't occur again. Visit them and see if you feel comfortable with their process controls etc; They should be able to trace your batch of boards and it may be that a new operator was involved.
At the end of the day, you are the customer !
Regards,
Chris.
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