Residents are being urged to donate safely over Christmas.

Data from Action Fraud reveals that £1.6m of the public’s money was lost to online charity fraud over the past year.

This cash includes donations to non-existent charities and the fraudulent collection of funds from genuine charities.

Action Fraud’s data shows that the £1.6m loss to fraud is up by 16% on the figure reported in the previous year.

People should do simple checks before donating including researching the charity name and its registration number on the Charity Commission website to find out if it is legitimate.

For more information, visit the Action Fraud website.