Elderly woman’s cash stolen in distraction burglary

The incident happened in Grange Street, Pelton, at about 1.20pm on Monday, June 10.

The 86-year-old victim, who is in poor health, had a cold call from a man who said he would carry out some roofing repairs. She invited him in and he then stole money from her purse.

A witness saw two men outside the house in an old white transit van, which is believed to be a mrk3,at 9.10am and 1.16pm.

The first man is described as white with a bald head, about 5ft fin tall, of stocky build and wearing a dark red polo top with red cargo pants or a set of overalls tied around his waist.

The second male is described as white with a thin face, dark, short hair, of slim build and wearing a dark polo shirt and dark cargo pants.

Detective Inspector Tonya Cook, from Stanley CID, said: “This is a crime where two people have preyed on the vulnerability of a lovely lady in her home and distracted her attention and stole her money.

“I would ask for anyone with information about this crime to contact the police on 101 or to report this anonymously to crime stoppers.

"We are supporting the victim but I want to identify these men to stop them targeting others and ensure they are brought to justice for what they have done.”

Anyone with information should call 101 and quote incident reference number 257 of June 10 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555111.