A BOGUS council letter telling residents they must take in a family of Asian lodgers has provoked ridicule among ethnic minority leaders.

An official-looking letter with the Derwentside District Council letter-head informs the resident that they have to provide a room for an Asian family and will be sent a supply of curry and rice to help them settle in.

One elderly homeowner was so shocked he took the letter to council offices in Consett and broke down, saying he had no room to house another family.

Mystery surrounds the origin or motive behind the sick prank, and no-one knows how many have gone through letterboxes in north County Durham.

The letter, purporting to be from a non-existent 'Mandela House' in Middlesborough, says: "The North East Council has informed us that you have a spare bedroom in your house, therefore we have allocated the Gandi family to your residence."

After telling the reader they can expect sacks of rice and tins of curry powder, the racist diatribe descends into sickening and childish insults.

Tahri Khan, chairman of the Sunderland-based Unity Organisation, which promotes racial harmony in the North-East, said: "This sort of behaviour should not be tolerated in a civilised society. This person should be told that we live in a multi-cultural Britain and most of the population will be of mixed-race in years to come.

"There is no Gandi family coming to Derwentside, but if there was I am sure they would contribute a great deal to the area and the country.

"Also, as the curry has overtaken fish and chips as the national dish, I'm sure the nation would approve of the supply of a good curry improving. This is just a silly prank - believe me, I've seen a lot worse."

Sheila McGinn, principal neighbourhood manager at Derwentside District Council, said this type of scam is unprecedented.

She added: "We do get bogus letters from time to time, but this one is disgusting. The gentleman who came in with it thought it was genuine and was really upset by it. He really thought he had an Asian family coming to stay with him. His name and address were hand-written on the envelope and it had a Newcastle postcode.

"We don't know where it's come from or how many of these are out there but we've told all our neighbourhood officers to be alert to them. If anyone gets one of these they should ignore it and throw it away or ring us and we will pick it up.