DETECTIVES investigating a distraction burglary are appealing for help to identify a man who stole money from a pensioner's home.

At about 1.30pm last Wednesday, an elderly woman noticed a man standing at her back door in Helmington Row, near Crook.

She immediately went to the door and, with a security chain in place, asked what he wanted.

The man, thought to be about 19, said he had lost a ball in the front garden, so she told him to walk around to the front of the house and the two looked for it together.

When they found a golf ball, the man said his was a tennis ball before turning to walk through the house and out of the back door, which he opened.

The occupant remembers placing the golf ball on the kitchen table and closing the back door.

After continuing with her housework for a short while, she returned to the kitchen and noticed the golf ball had gone and discovered her handbag had been stolen from the living room.

The man is described as white, about 5ft 10in, slim with a square face, full lips and light hair. He wore a beige shirt and Fairisle-style multicoloured knitted sleeveless jumper. Police said the man appeared to be of low intellect.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Dunny McCubbin or Detective Constable Karl Hopps at Crook CID on (0845) 60 60 365, or Crimestoppers anonymously on (0800) 555111.