A RETIRED teacher who this year has received more than 300 begging letters from charities says she is being "morally blackmailed".

Daphne Clarke, 82, gets up to five requests a day for donations.

Since January 1, Mrs Clarke has kept the majority of the letters she receives to find out just how many charities are targetting her.

So far she has received requests for help from 130 different organisations, with many sending her more than one begging letter.

She said: "Today was a red letter day and I didn't get one, but normally I'll receive three, four or sometimes five every morning.

"I've no idea why I'm being bombarded."

Mrs Clarke, who taught at schools in County Durham and at Durham and Frankland prisons during her career, says she has never heard of two thirds of the charities she receives letters from.

She added: "You get pens, bags, calendars, address labels, greetings cards - some put three or four pens in.

"It's moral blackmail really - they send you these pens and expect to get a donation in return.

"The number we receive has built up since the middle of last year. I said to my husband I was going to keep the letters to see how many we were receiving."

Mrs Clarke said all charities told "heartbreaking" stories.

"There are so many desperate situations - the blind, the handicapped, horses, lifeboats, donkeys, birds, homeless children, Aids orphans, the list is endless, but I cannot give to them all and the time taken to cope with this plethora of envelopes almost makes me want to stop giving altogether."

Although she already donates to several regular charities, Mrs Clarke said some organisations had resorted to ringing her up when she did not respond to their letters.

She partly blamed her local authority, Richmondshire District Council, for selling her name and address to the charities

In response, the council said many organisations could sell contact information and residents should be wary who they passed on their details to.

A spokeswoman said Mrs Clarke had already chosen to be removed from the open register, which could be sold to third parties, and would only be included in the full register from December 1.

Anyone in Richmondshire wanting to be removed from the next open register should call 01748-901018 before October 31.