Continental con artists are trying to trick North Yorkshire residents with a postal scam designed to tug at the heartstrings.

Trading standards officer Richard Flinton with one of the first aid kits sent to North Yorkshire residents from the Netherlands

Unsolicited low-quality first aid kits have been sent from the Netherlands to homes across the county along with demands for £19.95.

A covering letter, from a firm calling itself Royal Consulting, thanks the recipient for supporting "humanitarian organisations" by buying the kit but gives no further details to back this claim.

Worse still, it tells recipients they will be charged interest plus a handling and postage charge if they do not pay up within a time limit.

Residents targeted by the kit conmen alerted trading standards watchdogs who have put out an alert warning people to be on their guard.

Gordon Gresty, head of North Yorkshire trading standards, said: "This practice is illegal, but as the goods come from the Netherlands, there is little that can be done to stop it.

"Consumers should not be intimidated by this sort of thing and should never pay for anything unless they are sure they have ordered it and the price has been agreed."

Anyone who receives a kit is advised either to do nothing - and the goods automatically become theirs within six months - or write to the company explaining that the goods are unsolicited and ask for them to be collected within 30 days.

If the goods are not collected within that time they become the recipient's property.

Ambulance service first aid experts examined the kits and found them to be overpriced. They also had concerns about the quality of the contents.

Trading standards officer Richard Flinton said: "Apart from its being illegal, these kits are not a quality product. People who need a first aid kit could find a much better one by shopping around."

The scam is the latest in a string of postal swindles hitting North Yorkshire from the European mainland.

These have included sending bogus invoices to firms in the hope they will pass through their accounts departments unnoticed and asking firms to fax information about the business to numbers which turn out to be costly premium-rate ones.

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