A FRAIL 97-year-old woman was conned out of £1,000 by a bogus caller posing as a water board worker.

Officials warned pensioners to be on their guard last night after the man gained access to the woman’s home, near Bishop Auckland, at about 4.30pm on Friday.

Smartly dressed, and in his 40s with dark hair and stubble, he asked his unsuspecting victim to turn on the tap while he made checks.

Once inside, he followed her upstairs and while she was distracted used a garden trowel to remove a safe, containing about £1,000, on the the wall of a bedroom.

He also pocketed £150 cash from the frail pensioner’s purse before she became suspicious and confronted him.

The thief reacted angrily and told her the water had turned blue before making his escape.

It is believed he also stole a pillowcase to conceal the key-operated grey metal safe.

As well as cash, it contained Hippodrome Bingo money bags filled with coins.

DC Jeremy Downing, investigating, said: “The people who carry out this type of crime can be quite experienced and quite polite.

“Luckily, she was not hurt, but it is outrageous to target someone that age.

“We need to get the message across that if someone wants to be in your door you need to see identification.

“Those who are genuine will have no issue waiting for you to make checks and showing you identification.”

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: “This is a callous and despicable crime.

“Bogus caller crime is a problem for Northumbrian Water, as more than 50 per cent claim to be from the water company.

“It is unusual for Northumbrian Water to need access to a customer’s home without the resident knowing about it.

“Even if a customer has a burst water main we wouldn’t need to be in someone’s house.

“We advise customers to look out for our logo on clothing and vehicles, and all of our employees carry identification, which they will be more than happy to show.

“Customers can ring our call centre to check if the person is genuine and our employees would never pressure a customer to be let into their home.

“Our advice is – if in doubt keep them out.”

Northumbrian Water also offers a password scheme and can be contacted on 0845-717-1100.

The company is working alongside officers from Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria police’s Operation Strongbow – a joint offensive set up to tackle doorstep caller crime.

The Northern Echo is campaigning for stronger legislation to end door-to-door cold-calling.

The DoorStoppers Campaign, launched in 2003, is pressing for legislation to make it a criminal offence for callers to turn up at a house unannounced.

Anyone with information on the bogus caller is asked to contact police on 0345-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.