A SPOOF murder dossier sent to a Cookley woman as part of a promotion for a new television series has been condemned as threatening and offensive.

The publicity pack advertising five's crime show CSI:NY caused a 42-year-old Cookley woman such anxiety that she asked not to be named, for fear of encouraging copycats.

"It did quite freak me when I opened it and it said I was to be the third victim of a serial killer," she said.

The bloodstained dossier includes photographs of the first two "victims" who were "strangled" and newspaper cuttings naming her as the third victim, as well as graphic details about how she could be shot in the head.

"I'd never heard of this series and what was sent didn't look mass produced, with blood and tea stains on it.

"It was very threatening and offensive. It actually said I would be killed on February 5.

"It's not the sort of thing I would want my mother to receive and I am concerned that elderly people or someone with mental problems would be badly affected by it," she added.

The woman and a Stourport man, who was also concerned when he received a pack through the post, reported it to the Advertising Standards Authority and the police.

A police spokesman said: "The dossiers were passed on to our scenes of crime officers. There was no covering note and the material was so realistic even they were taken in for a few minutes.

"Anyone who watches CSI would probably realise it was a publicity stunt but some people have contacted us because they did not know what it was and were concerned."

five has admitted sending out 55,000 promotion packs but has now stopped after receiving 100 complaints, including one from the Cookley woman.

The promotion material was sent in a brown envelope of the type used by investigators in the series, a spin-off from the highly successful CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series.

A five spokesman said: "In the light of the efforts we have made to make the nature of the contents so transparent, we are surprised a very small minority of recipients have mistaken it as anything else."