CHARITY clothing collectors have thanked the North-East public for their help in beating bogus gangs who try to steal donations.

After criminals stole about £200,000 worth of doorstep donations, The Northern Echo launched an appeal for householders to be vigilant and report suspected bag thefts and leaflets announcing scam collections.

A hotline was set up by legitimate charity collectors at Clothes Aid, and the hundreds of calls it received helped the not-for-profit company be on the alert for potential fraudsters and thieves and report them to the authorities.

Now Clothes Aid, which raised more than £1.5m for charities such as Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and Make-A-Wish, is urging people to keep on putting out bags for collection. Steve Kirby, Clothes Aid North-East operations manager, thinks the publicity about bogus collectors may have put some people off all together.

He said: "If that happens, the criminals have won and the charities will lose out. Whatever you do, don't stop putting clothes out for legitimate collections. It is a vital source of funding.

"This is a problem faced by all charities that raise money in this way, such as the Great North Air Ambulance Service and Scope, so we need to stamp it out.

"But if householders become too concerned and stop giving, then the scammers will have stolen our charitable spirit."

Householders are advised to study the information which comes through their doors carefully. Legitimate leaflets and bags will be clear about the charity that is supported, the text will be straightforward and words spelt correctly.

Lawful collection vans will be clearly branded and the collectors should be wearing uniforms.

Charity bags collected by Clothes Aid are sent to Eastern Europe and sold there, and Clothes Aid hands over a share to charity and keeping only what is needed to cover its overheads.

Bogus collectors range from small-time thieves who keep or sell the goods at car boot sales, to organised gangs who also sell the clothes to dealers in Eastern Europe, but keep all the money for themselves.

Michael Lomotey, Clothes Aid head of campaigns, said: "This year Clothes Aid has received over 30 reports of suspected thefts in the North East, which has led to one arrest in the Durham area.

"The very nature of these crimes means that by the time we receive a report and pass this onto the police, the thieves have already cleared out of the area. We are urging the public to keep on reporting these crimes and it will eventually lead to more arrests."

In London, the Clothes Aid motorbike team has helped secure more than 85 arrests. The charity is looking to expand this into other areas, including the North-East.

Anyone who suspects bogus collectors are at work can get advice from Clothes Aid's helpline 0870-607-4600 or report the incident to their local police.