A BOGUS council letter telling residents they must take in a family of Asian lodgers has provoked ridicule among ethnic minority leaders.

An official-looking letter, with the Derwentside District Council letter-head, informs the resident that they have to provide a room for an Asian family.

One elderly homeowner was so shocked that he took the letter to council offices, in Consett, and broke down, saying he had no room to house another family.

Mystery surrounds the origin or motive behind the sick prank, and no one knows how many have gone through letterboxes in north County Durham.

The letter, purporting to be from a non-existent "Mandella House" in Middlesbrough, says: "The North-East Council has informed us that you have a spare bedroom in your house, therefore we have allocated the Gandi family to your residence."

After telling the reader they can expect sacks of rice and tins of curry powder, the racist diatribe descends into sickening and childish insults.

Tahri Khan, chairman of the Sunderland Unity Organisation, which promotes racial harmony in the North-East, said: "This sort of behaviour should not be tolerated in a civilised society. This person should be told that we live in a multi-cultural Britain, and most of the population will be of mixed race in years to come.

"There is no Gandi family coming to Derwentside, but if there was, I am sure they would contribute a great deal to the area and the country.

"Also, as curry has overtaken fish and chips as the national dish, I'm sure the nation would approve of the supply of a good curry. This is just a silly prank - believe me, I've seen a lot worse."

Sheila McGinn, principal neighbourhood manager at Derwentside District Council, said: "We do get bogus letters from time to time, but this one is disgusting. The gentleman who came in with it thought it was genuine and was really upset by it.

"He really thought he had an Asian family coming to stay with him. His name and address were hand-written on the envelope, and it had a Newcastle post code.

"We don't know where it's come from, or how many of these are out there, but we've told all our neighbourhood officers to be alert to them.

"If anyone gets one of these they should ignore it and throw it away, or ring us and we will pick it up.