East Devon District Council is warning residents to be on the lookout for fraudulent text messages.

The warning comes after the council was contacted by a resident who had been sent a message informing him that he was due a 'huge refund' on his council tax.

The council has confirmed that the message was fake and has now issued a warning to residents.

A spokesperson for East Devon District Council said: "One of our Customer Services Advisors has taken a call from a resident who has received a text message saying he was due a huge refund from his council tax.

"The message told him to click on this link: "citycouncils-tax-gov". We advised him to delete the message and not to click on the link as we believe it's a scam.

"So if you receive a similar message please delete it and do not click on any links – the council will always write to you on council tax matters."