Several local residents have contacted the Ross Gazette recently, raising their concerns that suspicious men have been rummaging through bins in Ross-on-Wye Town Centre during the early hours of the morning, on several occasions.

Many of these residents have noticed that these men are not searching for food, but instead for papers; they have taken items of paperwork from the bins.

This has left the eyewitnesses concerned that people in the community may be subject to identity theft, if they have discarded papers with their names and bank details.

Warren Davies, a resident of Pigs Alley, told the Ross Gazette he saw two men, at about 5.30am on Wednesday morning. He said:?“(They were) beside the Market House carrying quite a lot of the clear recycling sacks, and they were not the bin men. After going through the black sacks, the one man was putting discarded mail into his back pocket and leaving the leftover rubbish strewn all over the pavement beside the letterbox.”

Mr Davies said this is not the first time he has witnessed an incident such as this one. He urges those in the community to destroy statements with personal details appropriately. He said:?“Be careful everyone on how you dispose of your receipts and bank statements, or anything else that would help these people in their efforts to steal your money, but also your identity.”

To read this story in full, see this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette.