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trust offers shredding service to beat identity crime
16 June 2006
Residents in Shipley are being encouraged to protect themselves from the problem of identity theft with the help of a free document disposal service.
In the last few days, Shipley Community Housing Trust has launched a shredding service so people can dispose of their personal papers such as old bank statements and bills safely.
It is estimated around 100,000 people a year fall victim to the theft of their personal details which includes taking documents that people throw out with their rubbish.
The information is then used to open up bogus bank accounts, claim benefits and apply for official documents such as a driving licence.
Now the housing trust is offering to shred documents that people bring with them as they visit their office, off Wrose Brow Road.
Peter Kelly, Shipley Community Housing Trust’s Neighbourhood Manager said: “Identity fraud is a growing problem across the country and as a caring and responsible landlord we have been working the police to look at what we could do to help our tenants.
“The free paper shredding service aims to tackle this problem and give people the peace of mind that their personal papers are being disposed of safely and will be not be used by anyone else.
“Documents will be fed into the shredder by one of our customer service staff in the presence of the person bringing them in.”
The service is available to dispose of small amounts of paper but any staples should be removed first. People cannot leave documents for shredding later.
Shipley Community Housing Trust office is open between 8.45am and 4.30pm on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10am and 4.30pm on Tuesdays and on Fridays between 8.45am and 4pm.