Farmers in North and East Yorkshire are being charged for the air they breathe, thanks to a 'scam' business deal which has targeted the area.

The business, apparently trading from Shropshire, has been sending mail-shots to farmers across the region asking them to subscribe to a scheme that it is claimed will generate money from mobile telephone system operators who pass signals over farmers land.

Some farmers have already subscribed to the scheme, having already sent the company £350.

In practice, the scheme is impossible as no-one has any rights to what passes through the air above the land they may own. If there was such a right, it could only be enforced by stopping such information flow which would be physically impossible and illegal under the 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act.

According to Trading Standards, the scheme is nothing more than criminal fraud. The perpetrator has not yet been identified and the address on the documentation sent out 'promoting' the scheme is an accommodation address.

Rob Simpson, spokesman for the National Farmers' Union, said: "This incidence is a symptom of farming in crisis. In desperation, farmers are sending money to the scheme as it promises to deliver financial reward quickly.

"We have been told by the Radio Communications Agency that such a scheme is illegal and that farmers would therefore be committing a criminal offence by having this 'passive restrictor' installed.

"We are advising all members against subscribing to the scheme."

Trading Standards officers are keen to capture the culprits and are asking any farmers who have been targeted so far to show them the paperwork they have received.