A global anti-poverty charity founded and based in Oxford has apologised for not spotting "bad practices" by its fundraisers.

Aid and development charity Oxfam was among several UK charities implicated in a report published by MPs yesterday.

Members of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) heard that some charities saw vulnerable and elderly people as "fair targets".

The report added that some charities made it impossible for donors to block further communication from them, or allowed information to end up in the hands of scammers.

Charity trustees who had permitted scandalous fundraising methods had been, according to the PACAC, either "incompetent or wilfully blind".

Karen Brown, Oxfam Chair of Trustees, said: "We take our fundraising responsibilities extremely seriously.

We are sorry that we failed to spot the bad practices of agencies working on our behalf, and have put in place additional safeguards to ensure that Oxfam fundraises in a way that is both in line with our values and meets the high standards the public expects of us.

"Steps we have taken include strengthening our monitoring of agencies and giving fundraising top priority at board level. 

"All of us at Oxfam are acutely conscious of the fact that our work responding to disasters and helping people escape poverty would not be possible without the generosity and good-will of our supporters."