A FORMER councillor is still being plagued by letters addressed to his late wife from a company inviting her to enter a cash prize draw.

The Northern Echo reported a week ago how Jim Smith, of Sunnybrow, near Crook, County Durham, had been inundated with offers for him and his late wife, Jan, to call a telephone line with a special number to be in with a chance of a cash prize.

Yesterday, he received four more letters, two addressed to him and two to Mrs Smith, from the same Austrian-based company inviting them to enter a different prize draw. This time, it asked the Smiths to send £20 to win a range of prizes, including a car.

Mr Smith, who lost his wife from a heart attack five years ago, aged 49, said: "It's not worrying me or anything, but I do think it needs stopping. They all came in the post together and it seems to me as if they just send them every month. It's unbelievable."

The Vienna-based company said it would investigate the matter after it was contacted by The Northern Echo by e-mail last week.

Peter Fleming, of County Durham trading standards, said: "Our advice to the consumers is to think before you either telephone or send any money off because our experience, based on previous ones, is that there's nothing at the end, or even worse, you end up spending more than the prize money."