A charity that asks people to donate unwanted clothes and has been accused of keeping some of the profits from the scheme has surfaced in Weston-super-Mare.

A recycling bank in the car park of a Tesco store in the resort has been linked to Tvind, a group whose leader was acquitted at a £15-million fraud trial in 2003.

The clothes and shoes recycling bank is owned by Gaia-Movement Trust Living Earth Green World, one of six names that have been linked to multi-national Tvind, which started in Denmark. Thousands more recycling banks owned by Tvind is believed to operate across England, including in Bristol, Taunton and Bridgwater. The group claims to be a humanitarian organisation and is linked to DAPP UK, Planet Aid, Green World Recycling, Humana UK and Humana People to People.

Clothes are donated by the public, but it is alleged only 12 per cent of income is donated to charities and the group Humana UK was closed by the Charity Commission in 1998.

Critics have alleged some of the remaining cash is taken as a profit.

In contrast, the registered charity Oxfam donated 79 per cent of its income to charitable causes during the same period, with the remaining 21 per cent used for operating costs.

Mike Bell, the Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate for Weston, said: "It is important that local people know where their donations go and what they are being used for.

"These are not council recycling bins and serious questions have been raised about what happens to the proceeds from the sale of clothes and shoes.

"I would urge residents to recycle clothes through charity shops and other charitable organisations."

Tvind is said to be led by Amdi Petersen, the son of a school teacher. He lived in Miami apartments and on the world's biggest glass- fibre yacht, the Butterfly McQueen. He was acquitted after a fraud trial in 2003. Eight men connected with the group were tried and only one was convicted.It is alleged Mr Peterson faces new fraud charges brought against him in Denmark, but he cannot be located.

Mr Bell has asked North Somerset Council's recycling team to investigate the Gaia-Movement bins in the Tesco car park.

Mike Durham, co-founder of Tvind Alert, an organisation that investigates the Tvind movement, told the Western Daily Press: "It takes someone like Mike Bell to raise awareness about these concerns. People should think very carefully before donating."

Torben Soe, managing director of Green World Recycling, based in the West Midlands, said: "It's not misleading. Green World raises funds for environmental purposes. It supports Gaia Movement and is linked to Tvind. There has been some smearing about us and what we do. The question is whether you believe us or the people who smear us."

He added: "More than 20 per cent of our income is donated to charitable causes."