Householders were today warned to be on their guard against first aid kits being sent out to Bradford addresses from a Netherlands firm.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards officers have received more than a dozen complaints in the last few days from people who have received the £23.70p packs from Royal Consulting.

The company, highlighted in the Telegraph & Argus in November, sends out the equipment unsolicited with an invoice telling the recipient there will be a "surcharge interest" unless the £23. 70p cost is paid before an expiry date - which is not specified.

Originally the firm was claiming it was supporting British charities but seven of them, including the British Red Cross, Marie Cure Cancer Care and Mencap, issued a joint statement saying they had nothing to do with the company. It now claims recipients are supporting "humanitarian organisations" by buying the kits.

Trading Standards spokesman Bruce McKay said recipients of the pack should write to Royal Consulting saying they will dispose of it unless the company collects it within 30 days.

He said it was important to keep a copy of the letter and obtain a certificate of posting at the Post Office.

"Alternatively you can put it on a shelf unopened for six months and then do what you want with it at the end of that period," he said.

Chief officer Martin Woods said: "If the goods had originated in the UK there would be offences committed under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act, 1971.

"But, because they come from abroad, UK law doesn't apply and there is no practical action which can be taken to stop it..

One resident from Low Moor said: "We had a phone call a few days before from a woman asking if I would be interested in taking part in some market research.

"I said I wasn't interested in buying anything and she said they were not selling anything - they were sending out a medical item hoping we would look at it and tell them what we thought of it.

"I said all right and it arrived a few days later with an invoice for £23.70.

"The thing is that some people may be intimidated by the threat of a surcharge or may think it is less hassle to pay the money than the cost of having to send it back."

Another reader said: "I didn't have a phone call or anything. It just arrived and there is no way I am paying for it."

The firm originally told the T&A it was just starting to market the kits in the UK and teething problems had resulted in orders going astray.

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