Police warn over bogus Troop Aid collections in Wadebridge and Padstow

Police are warning residents to be aware of a scam involving clothing collections.

Bags are being dropped through letterboxes in the Wadebridge and Padstow areas of Cornwall claiming to be from Troop Aid, a genuine charity which dispatches clothes and other essentials to injured troops in field hospitals in war zones such as those in Afghanistan.

But a group of men have been operating in the area using false Troop Aid bags. Police say it is a scam which has also been identified in other parts of the country.

The bags are posted through people's doors and then collected a few days later.

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Police Community Support Officer Clive Wherry said that one woman had received a collection bag and became suspicious.

"The lady handed it to me at a Red Cross coffee morning in the village believing the clothing bag may not be genuine.

"I contacted Troop Aid and they confirmed that it was not one of their official collection bags and, in fact, that this scam had been going on around the country."

The fake and genuine bags are almost identical except for an address at the bottom of the bag. The official Troop Aid collection bag has Midlands Textiles Ltd printed on it. The bogus bags have another company address.

Troop Aid's patron is the Duke of Cornwall.