A children's charity has called in police and Trading Standards, claiming an Erith shop has been wrongly collecting money under its name for almost 20 years.

The allegations were reported to the authorities by Second Chance earlier this month.

The charity told the News Shopper it had permitted the opening of a shop at 188 Bexley Road in 2005, but the agreement ended in 2006 and it had received no funds from the shop since then.

However, the store appears to have continued trading with the charity’s branding on it for almost another 20 years – only coming to light thanks to an inquisitive accountant.

The Charity Commission – a government body regulating the charity sector – said: “We can confirm that, in line with our guidance, Second Chance Children’s Charity filed a serious incident report relating to concerns of a charity shop trading under its name without its knowledge.”

The charity, whose patrons include BBC Pointless presenter Alexander Armstrong, works with abused, impoverished and learning disabled children, taking them on fishing trips and woodland retreats.

CEO Doug Hulme said he was contacted in April 2023 by an accountant who said they were working for one of Second Chance’s charity shops.

The accountant asked why the accounts were being prepared as a “sole trader” rather than a charity, he claimed.

“We replied that we didn’t have any charity shops so it wasn’t us,” said Mr Hulme.

“They replied by sending us a photo of the shop in question and it was resplendent in our logo and Charity Commission number.

“We recognised the shop from 2005 and… asked the accountants to advise their client to stop trading at once under our name.”

But the signage remained up.

Bexley Council’s Trading Standards department was informed of the situation on July 19, 2024.

“Council officers attended the premises the same day and also spoke to a relative of the former business owner,” a spokesperson said.

“The premises has since been instructed to remove any signage reflecting the name ‘Second Chance’ and any charity number.

“The council’s Trading Standards team and Metropolitan Police Service will continue to liaise with relevant bodies as investigations continue.”

The Met Police added: “A report has been made to police about a shop trading as a charity shop in Erith.

“Concerns have been made about the validity of this shop’s links to the charity it reports to raise money for.

“There has been no arrest at this stage.”

The shop’s current manager, who has been in touch with Mr Hulme, did not respond to a request for comment.