Air ambulance warning over fake charity appeal
A company is leafleting homes in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire asking for clothing donations to support a fake air ambulance appeal.
The leaflets, branded Air Ambulance Service, ask people to leave good quality clothing in bags.
Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust (LNAACT) has warned people that they are fake.
The trust said "it appears to be a profit making company trading on the good name of the air ambulance".
The leaflets claim that the clothes will be sold to raise money for the service and give the impression that this is a charity supporting air ambulances on a national basis - but no such charity exists.
Chief executive of the trust, Peter Aldrick, said: "Despite first impressions, these people are not from a registered charity, and they have no connection with any air ambulance service operating within the UK.
"Supporters of the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance are advised not to support this appeal and to warn others," he said.
"All our own clothing collection bags are clearly marked that they are in support of the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance - your local air ambulance service.
"This matter has been brought to the attention of the police, Trading Standards, and The Charity Commission."
One Lincolnshire resident who received the leaflet, Maggie Woodward from Welton, near Lincoln, said: "The leaflet didn't say what they do, or where their air ambulance is, if it exists at all.
"If they are not fund-raising for an air ambulance I think what they are doing is absolutely disgusting."