Warning to Elderly of Building Con Men

5.09.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 12th Nov 2007

A group of criminals masquerading as builders are preying on local vulnerable, elderly people by tricking them into agreeing to building work and then robbing them.

A 90 year old lady in Heathfield ward was the latest victim of this racket, when she was tricked and robbed of several hundred pounds, some in cash and some in card withdrawals form her bank account. The scam - which involves offers to carry out unnecessary building work has been publicised on TV but gangs are still active.

Vincent Cable said: "I was alerted to this problem by a lady in Whitton whose mother had been robbed of several hundreds of pounds by a particularly nasty and cynical group of villains who are targeting elderly people."

"I gather that the Twickenham police dealt with the matter in an exemplary manner. But residents do need to be alerted to the fact that this particularly despicable crime is being carried out in the area."