THE Mayor of Middlesbrough has thrown his weight behind a campaign to alert older people to the scourge of bogus callers.

The town has been the scene of several bogus caller attacks on older people in recent months.

British Gas Help the Aged Partnership is holding a regional conference of its National Senior Safety campaign, at the Thistle Hotel, on May 13.

The conference ties in with the Northern Echo's Doorsteppers campaign, which was launched last November, to try to stamp out the menace of bogus doorstep callers.

The campaign already has the support of police and trading standards officials across the North-East.

A recent survey revealed that bogus callers gain entry into the homes of about 6,298 older people each year in the North-East.

In more than two-thirds of cases they manage to steal something.

Mayor Ray Mallon said: "We have put tackling crime and the fear of crime at the heart of our strategies to improve the local quality of life.

"There is no single issue which ranks so high with our citizens of all ages.

"It is vital that people feel safe not just on the streets and in their neighbourhoods, but also in their own homes, which is why this initiative by the British Gas Help the Aged partnership is so important and timely.

"I am sure it will make a big contribution to making older people in this and other towns safer."

The conference will provide a local perspective to the problems of bogus caller crime, rogue traders, fear of crime and elder abuse, a particularly cruel and distressing crime that can have devastating effects on older people's quality of life.

To book a place on the North East Senior Safety Conference, call Saskia Daggett on 020 7239 1924.