The Institute of Fundraising has defended charity clothes collections following a News of the World story which accused a commercial collections company hired by two charities of stealing donation bags left for other charities.

While it recognises that there are instances when commercial agencies do not run charity collections properly, the Institute said: "Such cases are the exception rather than the rule and the majority of charity clothing collections are legitimate and adhere to best practice."

The News of the World published the investigation entitled "You rat bags" in its paper and on its website yesterday, exposing a "string" of legitimate collectors reportedly licensed by Kidney Research UK and the RNLI picking up collections left for other charities. The story said that Help the Aged, the NSPCC and the British Heart Foundation were all affected by the "scam".

The report said that the spike in bogus collections has been created by a "booming market" in Eastern Europe for second-hand clothes which has "driven prices up to as much as £1,500 a ton" there.

Louise Richards, director of policy and campaigns at the Institute of Fundraising, said: "The instance highlighted by the News of the World is regrettable, and it shows that the charity sector is not immune to individuals taking advantage of the goodwill of donors and charities. With convenience inevitably comes risk. Yet the overall benefit to the charity sector of clothes collections outweighs the negative associations of this particular story."

A revised house-to-house collections code of practice by the Institute is awaiting public consultation and contains a new section on goods collections. The Charity Commission too has published guidance on bogus collections for the problem which the Association of Charity Shops’ head of policy David Moir told Civil Society earlier this month costs the sector significantly more than the inital estimate of £3m per year. 

In response to the NotW story Kidney Research urged the public to continue donating, adding: "We take these allegations very seriously and will be undertaking a thorough investigation. Kidney Research UK would never tolerate the removal of clothing recycling bags belonging to other charities, which we regard as wholly unacceptable."