CARELESS advertising leafleters have been accused of giving a 'green light' to thieves by leaving piles of junk mail outside homes when residents are away.

Frank Cruder, head of Chelmsford and Derby Road Neighbourhood Watch group, said businesses are causing a security risk by leaving stacks of leaflets hanging out of letter boxes or simply left at front gates - which builds up when houses are unoccupied.

Mr Cruder, of Chelmsford Road, said the piles of mail show which residents are away from home at any one time - making them easy prey for eagle-eyed thieves.

He said: "It's ridiculous really, because it wouldn't take much for them just to put the leaflets through the letterbox properly, but they just leave them all over the place.

"It's a green light for burglars because it shows them who's at home and who isn't which is a real security risk.

"Whenever I'm out and about in the area and see leaflets piling up I make sure to get rid of them, but that doesn't solve the problem."

Mr Cruder said the problem has got so bad that he has had to turn to officers from Church End Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team for help.

He said: "The police are looking at ways of helping to deal with this issue, but I would call on these people to stop leaving leaflets all over the place in the first place."

David Reekie, of Buckingham Road, was so frustrated by the huge amount of advertising leaflets and junk mail being left on his doorstep or attached to the windscreen of his car that he started collecting it into a giant pile which weighed more than 3kg after three months.

He said: "The pile was really quite big and heavy in the end.

"These leaflets are annoying and a complete waste of our natural resources."