The Charity Commission has published its latest guidance warning against bogus and misleading clothing collections.

The release follows a string of complaints and prosecutions nationwide for the activity which the Association of Charity Shops’ head of policy David Moir told Civil Society earlier this month costs the sector significantly more than the most recently quoted figure of £3m per year.

The Commission’s guidance advises the public to, “Be wary of misleading leaflets that do not use the words ‘registered charity’ but instead use pictures or wording that give the impression that the appeal is charitable,” and to search for a charity registration number. It also advises to look out for spelling mistakes or badly written copy.

However, the Commission was keen to reassure the public that, “Most collections for charities are genuine and provide them with an important source of income. People should not be discouraged from donating to collections carried out by genuine charities to raise funds for a legitimate charitable cause.”

In an earlier interview Moir advised that both bogus collections and the use of commercial partnership collections such as Clothes Aid which collects clothes for the NSPCC were “undermining people’s trust and confidence in house-to-house collections.”