A SEVENTEEN stone Bromsgrove woman has been left distraught after receiving an offensive letter from a slimming pill company.

Yvonne Peplow, from Perryfields Road, was one of many nation-wide to receive the cruel letter, suspected to be from Berry Trim, a slimming pill company in North America.

The letters look as if a friend has posted a slimming pill newspaper cutting with the words, 'try this, it works' scribbled by hand at the top.

Forty-seven year old Yvonne said: "I thought someone was being vile to me. It was not until I was watching Doctor Hilary Jones on GMTV, a few days later, that I realised the letter I had was merely an advertising campaign

"I am a big, strong woman and very proud of it. I'm 17st, three stone lighter than New Zealand All Black Jonah Lomu, and he's the best rugby player in the world.

"Someone who is more conscious about their weight than me could have been really upset by it.

"However, what I am most worried about is where they got my address from, we all fill in questionnaires and shoppers' surveys and it looks as if my information has fallen into the wrong hands."

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received more than 150 official complaints, and hundreds more telephone calls from people left traumatised by similar letters.

ASA spokeswoman, Claire Forbes, said: "This is certainly one of the worst examples of deceitful advertising we've seen.

"We have traced the letters to a slimming pill company in North America, and we believe people are being employed in Britain to post these letters from all over the country.

"However, we have no power to enforce any regulations because they are an overseas company.

"Our advice to anyone who has received one of these letters is to bin it."

Principal Trading Standards Officer for Worcestershire County Council, Peter Holmes, who has dealt with a handful of complaints from residents in the county, agreed that all such mail should be ignored and binned.