A BURY man knew there was something suspicious when he received a fine for a traffic offence in Spain.

That is because he was sitting at his desk at work in Bury on the date the incident was supposed to have happened!

The 33-year-old man is the latest target of a scam that tries to trick people into paying non-existent fines.

He received the letter from an agency, said to be working on behalf of the Justice Department of Mainland Spain, last Friday.

The man, who did not wish to be named, said: "I automatically took the letter to the police and contacted my MEP Gary Titley and the Citizens Advice Bureau. I knew I was not guilty of the offence. Neither I, nor any member of my family was in Spain on March 3, the date the offence was supposed to have happened. But it was very annoying knowing that some anonymous crook in Spain had my address and was trying to make money out of me."

The letter threatened that, unless 129 Euros was sent by international bank transfer to an address in Spain by July 23, the Spanish authorities would seek compensation through the British judicial system. It also stated that a county court judgement would be placed against the recipient, and he would be liable for further expenses.

"Obviously I have not sent the money, but there may be other people, particularly lone pensioners, who may receive a similar letter and be panicked into doing what it says," he said.

In recent weeks a number of people throughout the region have received similar letters. Many of them own timeshare properties in the Canary Islands. It is believed the conmen have found home addresses of tourists on databases including timeshare ownership lists.

North West MEP Gary Titley, based in Radcliffe, has written to the police department in Spain and asked them to investigate the matter.

He said: "This looks like being a complete scam. People should check such letters very carefully and if they are concerned, they should contact me or the CAB.

"Hopefully the Spanish police will conduct a full investigation so that no-one else has to go through the worry and stress that this type of fraudulent practice causes innocent individuals."