POLICE are hunting two con-artists who posed as hospital fundraisers to steal a 90-year-old's handbag.

The woman, who has not been named, allowed a woman into her bungalow in the Darwin Grove area of Hartlepool, Teesside, after she said she was selling raffle tickets for Hartlepool General Hospital.

When the pensioner moved away from her front door a man slipped into her bedroom.

The man escaped with the handbag, containing £40.

A police spokesman said: "This was a brazen and despicable attack on a vulnerable pensioner."

The female was described as in her mid-twenties, of thin build, with short fair hair.

Her male accomplice was aged about 20, wearing a woolly hat and dark coat.

Anyone with information about the attack at 8pm on Sunday should call (01642) 302126