A VULNERABLE pensioner who suffers from a bad heart was duped by a clever conman who stole the old man's life savings after claiming to be from the water board.

The 76 year old, from Redgate Drive in Parr, had just got up on Friday, February 27 and had left his front door open for a neighbour who regularly called round to help him wash and dress. But when he entered the lounge, a man was standing there who told him he had been called by a woman living upstairs to investigate a sewer smell.

After checking taps in the kitchen, the man then asked the pensioner if he could check his pension book and the elderly man went to his bedroom to fetch it. After looking at it, the caller then told the man to check his own kitchen taps again and walked back through the house again. While he was in the kitchen, the pensioner saw the man leave the house and when he checked his bedroom he discovered that his savings of £500 in cash had been stolen.

The caller was described as white, about 5ft 10/11ins tall with a stocky build and in his early 30s. He had short, dark hair and wore a dark bomber jacket.A neighbour saw him drive away in a red Ford Orion.

If you have any information about this incident, contact DC Paul Henry at St Helens CID on 0151 777 6068.

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