A wildlife charity has been 'cleared' after fears its collectors may have been scamming Rutland residents.

The matter was raised on social media by Beverley Hart of Leicestershire Hedgehod Rescue and investigated by the group Rutland Rural Crime along with Rutland County Council.

Beverley said on Facebook that she had been told that two women have been door-knocking and asking for donations to hedgehog rescue.

They had a card machine for easy donation and she asked for people not to donate "as this appears to be a scam of some sort."

She added: "It is not connected to Leicestershire Hedgehog Rescue in any way.

"It is not something we have ever done and will never do."

The Rural Crime Rutland group worked with Rutland County Council on the issue and put out an appeal for information on social media.

As Nub News reported, the recently-launched group has hundreds of followers.

The group commented: "We had a great response that seemed to focus in on 2 ladies who were fundraising for a charity on Oakham High Street that same day."

Over several days, by digging through the comments on social media, they discovered a company called Wild Aid.

"This was confirmed to us when a resident who visited the fundraisers on the High Street sent a picture of the leaflet she picked up, and it was a match to Wild Aid."

Rural Crime Rutland continued: "We looked into the background of Wild Aid and reached out to make contact with the head of the organisation.

"We spoke to Charlie who runs Wild Aid and he was already aware of what was going on in the county through following our page.

"Charlie confirmed to us that the 2 ladies were out fundraising for Wild Aid on Oakham High Street but they do not involve themselves in any door to door charity work what so ever. We thank Charlie for his co-operation on this."

Rural Crime Rutland again spoke to the council and concluded the two ladies were not scamming anyone.

The group commented: "We feel there is no reason anyone should feel like they have been scammed by giving money to Wild Aid who are a legitimate charity. They have a stall set up in Oakham a few times a year.

"We feel but unconfirmed it was an opportunist on the day who took a chance to scam people door to door. We would like to try and dig a little further to find out who it was but the main thing is the local authorities are aware of this and have asked us to do some more awareness through our page on door to door scamming."

Their Facebook post added: "Charlie from Wild Aid has asked us if we can make sure we get the message out about his charity as he doesn't want anyone to think they have been scamming people in Rutland.

"Below I have attached Wild Aid's website so you can check them out for your self and see what they do within the UK.

"We thank everyone who helped us get to the bottom of this, it's truly amazing how many people care about Rutland and seeking the truth. If anyone has anymore questions on this please don't hesitate to contact our page ."