RESIDENTS have slammed bogus charity collectors who tried to dupe them into making donations they thought were going to help needy people.

This week, residents of Tunstall Terrace, in Darlington, were asked to leave bags of unwanted clothes and other items outside their homes.

The leaflets said the items would provide people in Third World countries with clothes they could afford.

It asked people to leave bags of clothing, blankets, shirts, shoes, bath and hand towels, CDs, videos, toiletries and perfumes outside their houses.

Although there was a business number on the leaflets, there was no charity number.

Companies House confirmed the business number was registered to a firm based in Milton Keynes, called Pajurys Ltd.

An e-mail address was also included on the leaflet. However, when the Northern Echo tried to e-mail the company, the message was returned as 'no such mailbox'.

Trading standards and charity officials have said residents should only make donations to companies that display a charity number and proper contact details.

Collecting agents for charities also have to make it clear which charities they are collecting for.

One resident of Tunstall Terrace said: "I feel this could be very detrimental to legitimate charities. It really is a problem."

Another added: "We do get a lot of bags for collections here.

"I always try and leave something out for the air ambulance, fortunately I didn't for this one."

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said that in many cases the clothing and donations would end up in poorer countries.

However, it is not distributed charitably and instead is often sold for a profit.

He added: "Although they're not lying at any stage, it's not particularly moral.

"We're saying people should always look for a registered charity number.

"A lot of charities rely on collections as a way of raising funds and will put proper contact details on and will be more than happy to raise any concerns people might have."

A spokeswoman for Darlington Borough Council's trading standards team said: "We have not had any specific complaints about Pajurys.

"People should only donate goods to charities they recognise or those that display a charity number on their literature.

"The safest way to donate goods is to take them to a recognised charity shop."