Coun George Elsom is fed up of receiving letters claiming he has won thousands of pounds.

To demonstrate to fellow junk mail victims how bogus their promises of prizes are, he's replied to three letters, from Belgium and Ireland claiming he's won a total of £45,000.

He said: "I've received junk mail for about a year, but, in recent weeks, I've been targeted daily, so I thought I'd post a couple off to see if I end up with all these thousands of pounds I've been promised."

Most of the letters sent to the Real Independent councillor for the Cleadon Park ward in South Shields include a catalogue called Biotonic.

Unlike many scam letters, they haven't asked for Coun Elsom's bank details yet. They're only needed if he wants an item from the brochure.

He said: "None of them has asked for my bank account details – they said they will be required later – so I filled in the basic things they asked for and sent them off.

"However, I had to pay for three stamps, so I think I'll end up being left out of pocket at the end of this."

Coun Elsom, of Parkshiel, South Shields, expects to hear about his supposed winnings within the next two or three weeks, but he's not getting too excited.

He added: "I doubt I'll hear anything back, so I'm not holding my breath.

"I just hope other people, who might be tempted during these hard financial times, take notice and bin the letters right away."

Coun Joanne Bell, lead member for innovation and safer and strong communities at South Tyneside Council, said: "Our trading standards service is warning people to be on their guard against scam mail.

"There appears to be a large number of letters advising residents that they have won money, or a prize, in competitions they have not entered."

She added: "Our advice would be always be to be suspicious of such offers, bring them to the attention of trading standards, and remember that if something looks too good to be true, it generally is."