A ‘DESPICABLE’ couple used a four-year-old boy as a decoy to steal from the house of a 93-year-old woman.

Grandmother-of-three Gladys Riley was alone at her home in Haslingden when a couple with a small boy Continued n 2 knocked on her door.

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The couple asked about a nearby church before the little boy said he desperately needed to use the toilet.

As former post mistress Mrs Riley showed the boy upstairs police believe one of the couple entered the house and stole a black handbag and purse containing around £70 and her bus pass.

Police said the man and boy later tried the same ruse at another property on nearby Helmshore Road but this time failed to gain access.

Mrs Riley said she had been left ‘shaken and upset’ by the burglary.

The pensioner said: “I answered the door and there were three of them on the step.

“The little lad was no more than four or five-years-old and said he needed the toilet so I showed him upstairs.

“About 10 minutes after they left I noticed my bag and purse had gone from the downstairs room.

“I have a very strict routine so I know exactly where it was and exactly how much was in it.

“It’s really shocked me. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.

“It knocks you to know that they would use a small child to get your trust.

“But as far as I knew they hadn’t been in the house, one of them must have sneaked in when my back was turned.”

Mrs Riley, is a well known and respected figure in the Haslingden and wider Rossendale area.

She and her late husband Ted ran the Birch Avenue Post Office in the town from 1956 to 1971.

She also worked at Bacup Labour Exchange and is particularly proud that during the Second World War she spent four-and-a-half years working as a bus conductor on the route between Rawtenstall and Waterfoot.

She added: “I didn’t sleep on Tuesday night as it upset me so much but my neighbours and family have been supportive. I’m well looked after.”

Speaking about the burglary that happened at around noon on Tuesday, Mrs Riley’s son Edward, said: “My mother is such a well thought of person by all her family, neighbours, friends and the wider community in Haslingden.

“The cowardly people who did this need to be caught.

“She lives in a nice quiet area and nothing like this has happened before.”

One of Mrs Riley’s neighbours, a 31-year-old woman who didn’t wish to be named, said: “We’re all disgusted that someone could be so cruel to a lovely woman.

“I was in at the time but didn’t see anything.

“What they did stealing from her is despicable, the lowest of the low.”

A police spokesman, said: “This is a particularly callous crime targeting a vulnerable member of the community.

“Our target team are continuing their inquiries.”

The man is described as being in his late 20s or early 30s and dressed in grey.

The woman is also believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s and had dark hair and was wearing a brown coat.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting log number 429 for June 2.

Police urged elderly residents to call 999 if anyone attempts the same method to enter their home.