Residents advised to bin scam letters

The letter, allegedly signed by an enforcement officer at North Lincolnshire Council with a foreign-sounding but crudely obscene last name, is on council-headed paper, with a logo.

It claims the council is helping locate accommodation for a "significant" number of people from eastern Europe.

And it warns that if there is no response, "we shall ask Humberside Police to accompany one of our officers and a locksmith, who will gain entry".

The deputy leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Coun Len Foster, advised people to put the letters in the bin. Coun Foster said: "This is a scam. We don't have an officer with that name working for the council. And we certainly haven't sent these letters out and would not.

"They are intended to scare people. We have had one complaint already and we expect there will be more people who have received these letters.

"If you receive one of these letters, you can call the police or throw it in the bin. But do not respond."