POLICE in Darlington are warning people to be on their guard after a spate of people rifling through bin bags looking for bank details.

There have been 19 reports of people slashing, stealing and looking through bin bags in the town since the beginning of the year.

Inspector Brian Maudling, of Darlington community policing, said: "People might see this and not think twice, but it could be something more sinister. The obvious assumption for us is they were looking for bills and bank statements. The next thing will be when someone gets a credit card bill for a couple of thousand pounds."

Bank details, which get into the wrong hands, can be used fraudulently to obtain money from people's bank accounts and credit card accounts.

Insp Maudling said: "We want to warn people this is happening and ask them not to put this type of information into bin bags. Shred it, burn it or rip it into tiny pieces."

He said most of the reports had been in the Bank Top, Eastbourne and Park East areas. There were six reports in January, three in February and ten last month, but Insp Maudling said more had probably gone unreported.

"I would ask anyone who sees this kind of activity to report it to us. If you tell us now, it may save us investigating a major fraud," he said.

Contact the police on 0845 606 0365.