A RACIST letter is being circulated to people in Bolton - telling them a family of five Asian people will be staying in their spare rooms.

One of the receivers of the letter, Bea Benton, is disgusted by what she has branded a "sick joke".

The 60-year-old said she was initially taken in by the letter and believed people who are not as alert as herself may make themselves ill with worry.

The note was supposedly sent by Nottingham Council's 'Homeless Asians Association', via first class post - although it carried a Bolton-Bury-Wigan postmark.

It said the "Ghandi" family - made up of grandmother Sandi, 82, mother, Mandi, father Randi, both 49, and two children, Bandi, three, and Andi Pandi, 13 - were due to fly into Manchester Airport and it advised Mrs Benton to hire a mini-bus to transport them to her home.

There Mrs Benton was ordered to house the family in her spare room and give them access to the kitchen and bathroom.

It also said Mrs Ghandi was seven months pregnant with twins and that in six months time arrangements would be made to transport the Asian family's pet bird - called Goosey Goosey Ghandi.

Mrs Benton said: "It's a sick joke and to think that people can send these things to people through the post disgusts me.

"It is so obviously having a go at the Asian population and it is not something people should have to deal with."

The pensioner, who lives in Farnworth, was also told to create some space in the lounge for a shrine and said it was common for Asian families to sacrifice a goat - the mess of which, it advised, "can be a little upsetting to say the least."

For her troubles she was to receive £28 per month for each member of the family.

The letter - signed Uve Binhaad - also said several sacks of rice and tins of curry powder were set to be delivered two days before the Ghandi family's arrival. It continued: "They will arrive with few clothes, so please try to supply them with a few 'hand me downs' until they receive their first Giro Cheque from the DHSS."

Mrs Benton added: "Up until the names of the family it is very easy to be taken in by the letter and I was thinking, 'they can't do this to me, can they?'"

A telephone number - 0115 063654 - bearing a Nottingham dialing code was placed at the top of the letter. Upon ringing callers are told by the telephone operator that the number has not been recognised.

Peter Jackson, Nottingham City Council's Assistant Director of Housing, urged people not be taken in by the letters.

He said: "We are concerned that this sort of malicious correspondence should be circulating and it has been referred to the police.

"We would urge anybody who comes across a letter of this sort to do the same."

Police in Nottingham confirmed they have been notified of the letter and said they would be investigating its source.