Sussex Air Ambulance warning over Air Ambulance Service collections

Representatives of the registered company are visiting homes asking for donations of goods such as clothes, toys and mobile phones.

Leaflets advertising the collections said: “We are working towards providing financial assistance to cover or reduce the cost of ground and air ambulance medical transportation for patients caught in difficult medical circumstances, having an unfortunate accident or illness in another city or country.”

In a statement, the Sussex Air Ambulance said it wished to make it clear it had no association with Air Ambulance Service.

Chief executive Adrian Bell said: “I am not saying that the Air Ambulance Service is purporting to be collecting on our behalf, far from it, as its literature makes clear it is not associated with any helicopter emergency medical service.

“However, I would like to make clear that the Air Ambulance Service is not a registered charity and we will certainly not benefit from any donation you make to them, so please do not think otherwise.”

The company also asks for unwanted shoes, handbags, perfumes, blankets and bed linen to be recycled and re-sold.

Textile banks are a genuine source of income for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance but only at allocated venues.

Anyone who would like to make a donation to the Air Ambulance can call 01622 833833.