HOAX letters informing people that they have been chosen to house an Asian family of five may have been in circulation in North Yorkshire for more than two years.

But their persistent use is reinforcing racial stereotypes and causing division, according to the Commission for Racial Equality.

Last week the Evening Press reported how Betty Bloxham, 67, and her husband Alan, 69, from Pickering, had been shocked to receive the letter, which they believed may have been designed to stir up racial problems.

Now two more people have come forward to say that they also received the letter up to two years ago - but each recipient had a different reaction.

Margaret Bostock, 60, of Beckfield Lane, York, said she knew the letter was a joke, but she was upset by the reference to sacrificing an animal - as her beloved dog had been put down only days earlier.

She said: "I had my dog put down and just a couple of days later I got this letter.

"It upset me more because it said I had to sacrifice an animal.

"I thought it was somebody having a laugh, but I remember being really upset about it and it wasn't very funny.

"They are sick in the head, they have to be."

But Dot Dowson, 52, of Station Road, Tollerton, near Easingwold, said she received the same letter over two years ago - and thought it was hilarious.

Mrs Dowson said: "It is really funny, nobody would take it seriously."

She believed it was taken from the Internet, and later found out that someone she knew had sent it to her.

"I even sent it off to a friend, and people who came round the house asked if they could have a copy of it.

"You can tell it's not a hoax trying to stir up racial hatred, I knew straight away that it was a friend who sent it.

"If anybody takes this letter seriously they have got no sense of humour whatsoever."

The letters have all been official-looking and claim to be from the Homeless Asians Association acting on behalf of various local councils, including City of York and Ryedale District Councils.

Bridget Emerson, spokeswoman for the Commission for Racial Equality, said: "It's disappointing to see that this kind of thing is going around.

"I would say it's a deliberate attempt to cause division, it's certainly not constructive.

"Within the context of what's been going on in Oldham and Bradford, and with asylum seekers in Glasgow and other places, there's nothing constructive in that letter.

"Reinforcing stereotypes is not helpful, whether it's within a joke or more disturbing things.

"If this happened in a workplace it would be powerful evidence before a tribunal."

Updated: 11:22 Tuesday, September 04, 2001