Fake water board inspectors con pensioners

POLICE are urging vigilance after bogus officials targeted elderly women in Conisborough.

Two men claiming to be water board inspectors knocked at a house on Roberts Avenue at around 7pm last Thursday.

One man distracted the 85-year-old homeowner while the other searched the house, taking cash and bank books.

Two men pulled the same scam at a house on Conan Road – one distracted an 80-year-old woman whilst the other stole “a substantial amount of cash,” a police spokesman said.

Detective Inspector Steve Whittaker said: “Distraction burglars tend to target older, more vulnerable members of the public at their homes, by posing as bogus officials, more commonly from utility services such as water with these two incidents, but also as gas suppliers or from any other organisation, and then gain entry into their home.

He added: “South Yorkshire Police take this type of crime extremely seriously and I want to reassure the public that we will do everything we can to catch and prosecute the criminals responsible for these crimes.”

Police ask anyone with information regarding the two Conisborough burglaries to contact them on 101, or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting reference 1096 or 1127.

For more information on distraction burglaries, visit the South Yorkshire Police website at www.southyorks.police.uk.