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Mystery surrounds the motive of a bogus council letter that’s been sent to residents in New Tredegar.

The letter, which claims to be from Caerphilly County Borough Council, falsely states that under 18s are to be banned from pubs and shops after 6pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

It further adds that if businesses are caught breaking the rules they could be fined up to £10,000. The statements in the letter, which is littered with spelling errors, are all completely false and have not come from the council.

New Tredegar ward councillor Mark Evans has urged businesses not to hand over any money to someone posing as Caerphilly County Borough Council.

Cllr Eluned Stenner, who also represents New Tredegar, said: “We just want to reassure businesses that this is not true.

“Businesses could do without this sort of mischievous behaviour at a time when they have been through so much.”

Cllr Evans echoed his ward colleague’s comments: “This is not the right time, not that there ever is, to be trying to stop people from going in to local businesses.”

“Please ignore this letter, it is a scam.

Cllr Evans added: “If somebody comes to your business, make sure they have ID.”

Cllr Stenner has visited businesses to make sure they were aware that the letter was a scam.

A council spokesperson said: “We have been made aware that a letter, claiming to be from Caerphilly County Borough Council, has been received by a number of New Tredegar businesses about the introduction of new antisocial behaviour rules.

“Our Trading Standards are currently investigating this matter and are looking for any information which will assist us in identifying the person or persons responsible for this fake letter. This could be CCTV images, a description of the person, vehicle used, when the letter was delivered, and where the person went after they left the premises.”