An 80-year-old woman was tricked out of £300 by three men who claimed to be roofers in Bentilee.

The men arrived unannounced at her home on Friday 21 February offering to fix a leak in her roof and followed her inside. 

The woman handed over £300 for the repairs with the man then claiming he had only received £100. 

When they demanded more money the 80-year-old refused, and the men left with the £300 in a white Ford van with guttering on the roof, promising to return in two hours. The group never came back.

Inspector Aaron Fortune, from Stoke South local policing team (LPT), said: "Entering the home of an elderly or vulnerable person to steal money while they are distracted is a deplorable abuse of trust and invasion of personal space.

"We would like to reassure our local communities that we are investigating these incidents, with officers carrying out a number of ongoing enquiries."

A similar incident occurred on Friday 14 February in Smallthorne when an 82-year-old woman was visited at home by a man saying he worked for BT and needed to check her phone lines. 

Once inside the property and after unplugging the phone line, the man asked the woman for payment and copied down her debit card details before leaving but nothing was taken. 

Inspector Fortune added: "If you have any vulnerable relatives, friends or neighbours I would ask you to please remind them not to let anyone into their home without a prior appointment."

Staffordshire Police are investigating the incident and urging residents to remain cautious of cold callers offering unsolicited repair work. 

Anyone with information should call 101, or contact Staffordshire Police via Live Chat on its website, quoting incident number 502 of 15 of February or 282 of 21 February.

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Image: David Weston via Geograph.