It may seem harmless enough. A stranger approaches you in the pub, or knocks at your door. He offers to sell you a bargain, anything from a jar of coffee to a mountain bike.

Dazzled by the incredible price, you agree. He gets cash in hand, you get a great deal, everyone is happy.

But someone is far from happy: the person whose house was burgled to make this transaction possible.

Having your home broken into is a traumatic experience. A third of burglary victims are so upset they want to move.

So that deal on the doorstep is far from harmless.

Most people who have bought goods on the black market are intelligent enough to wonder where they came from. But it is tempting to banish such thoughts.The Too Hot To Handle campaign aims to make it harder for folk to enjoy a wipe-clean conscience.

York police have joined with the Evening Press to ensure that those who buy from dubious sources are made fully aware of the consequences of their actions.

Every deal bolsters crime. It provides burglars with a market for stolen goods and encourages them to continue their wrecking trade.

Most break-ins are undertaken in order to finance someone's drugs habit. As long as otherwise law-abiding people pay for the addicts' supply through suspicious deals, the crime will continue.

It is a vicious circle. But Too Hot To Handle aims to intervene by cutting off the cash supply to criminals. We must all realise that the black marketeers are far from the cuddly images portrayed on television by Del Boy and Greengrass. They are petty criminals whose actions upset lives and damage our community.

If you are offered a deal that seems too good to be true, chances are it is. Say no.

Those who continue to find such bargains too hard to resist should be warned. You are aiding and abetting crime. The police will not hesitate to prosecute.

see NEWS 'Too hot to handle'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.