COUNCILLORS have agreed to toughen up rules on house-to-house collections in East Yorkshire to protect residents from fraudsters.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s cabinet this week agreed to include the collections within a revised trading policy after licensing bosses said residents and visitors had complained about the number of collectors and how often they were in operation.

It said the new rules would outline the action the council can take to prevent “over-saturation” of collections in some areas and was designed to prevent “unscrupulous” traders, including those falsely claiming to be from charities, from operating in the region.

Street traders, police and residents, as well as council officials, have been consulted on the changes.