WHENEVER we put money into a street collector's tin it would be wise to check that the money is actually going to a charity.

A timely reminder comes from Mid Devon District Council, who grant permits for street collections and licences for house-to-house collections.

The council operates a diary system to ensure that collections do not clash and after a collection it checks how much has been raised and how much has gone to a charity.

In recent weeks in Tiverton there have been people wearing coats with the logo of a charity on them and sealed collection buckets with that charity on them, but they did not have a street collection permit.

Mid Devon licensing manager, Marjory Parish told the Courier: "They did not have a permit because they were selling a booklet for a company that was not related to a charity and all the proceeds of the sales went to the company.

"We were told that the company would probably make a donation to the charity but there is no way to check this."

Mid Devon has begun a weekly notification at its offices in TIverton and on its website, setting out what street and house-to-house collections will be taking place the next week.