The Sunderland Echo has won recognition in Parliament for its campaign against bogus callers.

An early day motion congratulating the paper on its work to expose fraudsters has been tabled by MP Fraser Kemp, following its revelation that more than 300 people fell victim to bogus callers in the past two years.

Chief reporter Craig Thompson submitted a Freedom of Information request to Northumbria Police as part of an ongoing campaign by the Echo to expose bogus callers, highlight victims' stories and raise awareness.

He discovered that police received 174 reports of bogus incidents in the city in 2004, and 141 in 2005.

In many cases, bogus callers manipulated their way into people's homes by posing as council workers, tradesmen or police officers before stealing from their victims.

Gavin Foster, head of content at the Echo, said: "We wanted to find out the full extent of what was happening in the area and were stunned at how many people had been a victim.

"It still doesn't really hit home unless you have been a victim yourself, so we have really been banging the drum to make people more aware of how they could be caught out.

"Hopefully the perpetrators will then think twice."

The EDM tabled by Fraser Kemp, MP for Houghton and Washington East, reads: "This House congratulates the Sunderland Echo newspaper on its campaign to expose bogus callers on Wearside; notes that information obtained by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act shows that 315 victims were targeted by bogus callers over two years; further notes that some of the bogus callers pretended to be police officers and charity workers; and welcomes the excellent work carried out by the Sunderland Echo to expose this fraud and warn Wearsiders of the danger of bogus callers."

It has so far been signed by a further 12 MPs, including Leicester East MP Keith Vaz and Peter Atkinson, MP for Hexham.