A COMPANY profiting from Pendle residents' unwanted clothes does not officially exist, records show.

Trading standard chiefs fear Pendle residents are unwittingly giving clothes and lining the pockets of Ambertop Ltd in the belief it is a charity.

But a spokesman for Companies House - where all limited companies in the UK are registered - said: "The company was dissolved on April 11. If a company is dissolved it means it no longer exists as a limited company and should not be operating."

Now the Charity Commission, Lancashire Trading Standards and Pendle's MP Gordon Prentice, are urging people not to fall for the leaflet drop appealing for donations to help people in the Third World.

The firm has leafleted homes asking for clothes, shoes, curtains, bedding, cosmetics and CDs to be left for doorstep collection.

The leaflet claims goods would be sent to the Third World and jobs would be created in such countries because of the need to employ people to sort items for distribution.

Trading standards said although such collections looked charitable they were by a commercial operator who made money from selling unwanted goods.

Jim Potts chief trading standards officer told people to check the credentials of collectors.

He said: "The majority of door-to-door collect-ions are not now by genuine registered charities, but by businesses who simply sell the goods for profit.

"If consumers know this, they might prefer to pass goods on themselves directly to their local registered charity shop on the high street."

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said more than £1million worth of items were handed to companies rather than registered charities each year - but unless they are denoting the actual word charity they are not breaking any charity laws.

Mr Prentice said: "It is very difficult to confirm where items are likely to end up or whether anyone in the Third World will actually benefit."

Pendle Borough Council said companies needed a licence to operate and it had no records of any application.

Ambertop Ltd could not be contacted for comment.