A DARWEN psychic has slammed a postal scam which threatens elderly people with bad luck unless they hand over cash.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph has recently reported how a pensioner in Great Harwood became one of the first victims of a hoax in which a playing card is delivered along with a 'threatening' message and a plea for money, supposedly from a psychic.

The scheme was labelled a 'psychic threat' by trading standards officers, who said similar clairvoyant scams were well known in Lancashire.

But today, Linda Preston, from Darwen, who makes a living from reading fortunes, said she was 'horrified' at the scam and said pensioners should be aware that 'genuine' psychics would never make threats.

She said: "One or two of my clients have had stuff through the post that has worried them. It's all about whether it hits someone when they're at a bit of a low anyway.

"When people tell me about it I tell them it's complete rubbish and a real psychic wouldn't behave in such a way."

When the scam was first revealed last month, police warned residents to ignore any unsolicited demands for cash.

And Linda, who is married with two grown-up children, has her own advice: "When people come to me I do an individual reading, but these things are mass-produced.

"They're also printed, which is another sign.

"Everyone who comes to me gets a different reading but presumably these people buy names from a mailing list company.

"When someone has had a reading, they don't want to feel worse than when they arrived.

"It's a chance for them to discuss their problems. It's a form of counselling sometimes."