RESIDENTS are being warned about a letter scam from people posing as council officials, offering to collect large household waste.

Hambleton District Council has alerted people to the bogus scheme running in the Great Broughton area, near Stokesley, where householders have received a letter purporting to be from the council’s “heavy waste collection” service.

The letter offers help with the removal of heavy waste from refurbishments and home improvements.

The council’s operations manager, Paul Staines, said: “The letter brands itself as being from the district council – but from a service we do not have.

“Householders are offered to remove large items and seem to target people who have recently moved into a house or have undertaken refurbishment work.

“We do not provide this service – we believe these unscrupulous people are looking to find valuable scrap to sell and the remainder of the materials they will fly-tip.

“This is an alarming scam both for residents being targeted and us as an authority.

“Householders could be letting undesirable people into their homes – and for us the good name of the district council is being used illegally.

“We urge any residents who receive one of these letters to let both us and the police know.”

Hambleton District Council will remove certain items of bulky household waste, including furniture and carpets, but for a charge.

Certain types of waste are exempt from this service and the council does not remove building or demolition waste or oil tanks.

The price of the service depends on factors such as the location, type of items and whether it is residential or commercial waste and requires an assessment by a visiting council official.

Richmond and Hambleton Furniture Store, on Brompton Road in Northallerton, collects good quality furniture and some large electrical items free of charge.

The charity then resells them to people on low incomes. The organisation can be contacted on 07801 591581 or emailed at; rhfs1@yahoo.co.uk