SOME commercial companies are resorting to dirty tricks in a battle for the unwanted clothes which people intend to donate to good causes, it is claimed.

Local charities that rely on donations from residents fear they are missing out as private companies muscle in on their trade.

The high value of textiles has meant a huge increase in the number of bags and leaflets being posted through Dorset residents’ doors.

But many are from private companies that use appeals or logos which consumer watchdogs say are misleadingly similar to those of well-known causes.

There are also reports of unscrupulous drivers picking up sacks of donations left out for charities.

Isabelle Adam, project and policy officer at the Association of Charity Shops, said: “There’s a double or even triple whammy facing charities at the moment. Some people are putting out leaflets or bags carefully disguising the fact they are not charities or are misleading residents into thinking they are charities.

“And some people are just stealing bags that have been left out for somebody else and claiming ignorance if the police stop them.

“This is a problem all over the country. In 2006, we estimated it was costing every shop an average of £490. We encourage our members not to ‘over-fish’ an area but rival collectors see a lucrative area and target it relentlessly. It’s a big problem.”

And Gaynor Ravelin, area manager for the British Red Cross, said: “It’s the toughest it’s ever been. It wasn’t that long ago we had to pay someone to collect scrap clothing, now it is a valuable commodity.

“One of my drivers has seen people going off with his bags because they have got there before him.

“It’s frustrating and it affects our business quite a lot. I don’t think people realise the impact it has on the shops – if they are expecting 50 bags and the driver turns up with 10, that’s your sales for the week gone.”

Recently, the Daily Echo has reported that air ambulance charities in Dorset and Hampshire have been worried by bags bearing the name Air Ambulance Services.

The donations are organised by Oxfordshire-based AAS, which is not linked to any air ambulance charities. It says it is “working towards” providing help to reduce the cost of air transport for patients taken ill or injured while abroad.

And last week, Bournemouth residents were concerned to receive bags from Bernhardos, a collection company with no links to the children’s society Barnardo’s.

The company behind the scheme, Sparco in Bristol, says donations will help a parish in Lithuania. It is also distributing sacks seeking donations for breast cancer sufferers in Lithuania.

Kimberley King of Lewis-Manning Hospice, said: “All our charity bags are distributed and collected by volunteers who are not paid a penny and who go out rain or shine.

“They find it very disheartening that there is now so much competition from commercial companies who, when you look at it closely, only give a very small portion of the money raised to charity.”

Andy Sherriff, of Bournemouth trading standards, said: “Many of them stray very, very close to the edge in terms of mimicking or copying the good causes we would like to support but most manage to stay just the right side of the law.”

Read the fine print carefully

Trading standards body Consumer Direct has urged people to read the text on plastic bags “very carefully”.

“The flyers may give the misleading impression that the items are being collected for charitable purposes. Imagery and headline-grabbing text may be used. A national charity logo may be copied or a name used that is similar to a well-known charitable cause,” its advice says.

“A number may be printed, lulling the householder into believing it is a bona fide charity number. Often this will be a company registration number and more than likely false or a number based on a register in an overseas country.

“In reality, the collections may be organised by commercial operators who sell the donated items for profit.”

Anyone concerned about donations can:

• Contact the Charity Commission helpline on 0845 300 0218 to check whether the collection is for a registered charity.

• Ask the local council whether the collector has been licensed.

• Give at a charity shop instead or via a container at a local recycling point.

Consumer Direct is on 08454 04 05 06 or consumerdirect.gov.uk