A THIEF posing as a washing machine engineer managed to con his way in to the home of a 95-year-old woman and steal her purse.

The elderly woman opened the door of her home at Limes Avenue, Heysham to a man who said he needed to turn the water supply off before installing a washing machine at a neighbour's house.

The woman allowed him in and locked the door behind her.

The man then went to the kitchen area and began to tamper with the pipes.

At this point, a second offender is believed to have tried to enter the home, but was unable to do so because of the locked door.

After the man had completed his 'work', the elderly woman let him out of the house.

She later realised that the man must have stolen her purse, which contained £5 in cash, various personal papers and a bus pass, while she was not looking.

The brown, fold over type purse had been left in a rear living room.

No description of the thief is available.

He struck between 2.30pm and 2.45pm on Thursday.

Police have repeated their warning to elderly people not to let people claiming to be workmen in without seeing some form of identification.

Genuine callers will not be offended by this request.

Anyone with any information on the crime is asked to contact Morecambe Police on 01524 63333.