A RADCLIFFE pensioner who has raised tens of thousands of pounds for good causes has warned a bogus collector is using his name to take money from unsuspecting members of the public.

Jim Rhodes, 70, regularly organises events to collect money for a number of local charities.

Now he is worried that his good name is being tarnished by a man who has been collecting money from pubs over the past month.

The man, who has not been identified, says he is working on behalf of Mr Rhodes and takes money through a football cards game, which he says goes to Bolton Hospice.

Mr Rhodes said: “I don’t know anything about it. I was so shocked when I heard someone was going around using my name. This is something I’ve been doing for 30 years and I’ve built up a good reputation.”

As well as raising cash for Bolton Hospice, Mr Rhodes collects on behalf of St Anne’s Hospice in Little Hulton.

If he raises his target of £2,000 for the Salford hospice this year, he will have raised a total of £46,000 for St Anne’s over the years of his charity work.

Mr Rhodes also raises money for North Manchester General Hospital after his wife was cared for there before her death from cancer in 2003.

Mr Rhodes urged members of the public to be on the guard against the bogus collector and encouraged people to make sure they check collectors’ identity badges.

He added: “Whoever is doing this is terrible. I have worked hard and tried my best over the years and to have this person using my name is not nice.”