SOUTH PORTLAND – The Salvation Army’s bells will be back at Maine’s biggest shopping mall on Friday.

After hearing from tenants, workers and shoppers, the Maine Mall told the Salvation Army that its kettles were welcome but its ringing bells were not, said Mark Lorello, the mall’s operations manager.

Volunteers were going to use small hand-held signs to solicit donations instead of ringing bells.

But mall officials had a change of heart after accusations of Scrooge-like behavior cropped up.

Lorello said the controversy, which he has dubbed “the banning of the bells,” stirred some criticism.

The Salvation Army said it is grateful for space inside the mall, where it brings in most of its collections during the holiday season.

It’s not unusual for malls to try to restrict fund-raising by charitable groups, according to Capt. Richard Munn, who runs the Salvation Army in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Some malls, he said, have banned the Salvation Army on the grounds that if they are allowed to solicit donations, it opens the mall to requests from a wide variety of charitable groups.