Reports of a man collecting money fraudulently in Stevenage have sparked an appeal for witnesses.

A man was outside Tesco in the town centre on Tuesday, May 9, with a hand written sign that read R.N.L.I and a blue bucket.

He had no identification on him to state that he was in fact working for the charity.

Investigating officer PC Melissa Beecher said: “We are keen to speak to anyone who may have given money to this man, so we can progress our investigation. He was there from late morning into the afternoon.

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“While we would not want to discourage anyone from donating to charity in this way, please make sure that collection volunteers have identification linking them to a genuine charity.

"If you suspect anyone is operating fraudulently, please report them immediately.”

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You can report information online at herts.police.uk/report, or speak to an operator in at at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference 41/37186/23.

You can stay anonymous by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org.