A PENSIONER has had thousands of pounds taken from him after he was threatened with violence and marched to a cash machine.

Detectives have released CCTV footage and images of two people they want to identify in relation to the incident in Nelson.

Officers were first called to Hallam Road on August 18 following reports a man and a woman had gone to the 72-year-old male victim’s home at around 10pm, threatened him and demanded £100 each.

He was been marched to a cash machine at the One Stop shop on Netherfield Road and forced to withdraw £200.

Detectives have spoken to the victim and he has told them that the man and woman have turned up at his house on other occasions and demanded cash from him while he has been out walking his dog.

Over a four-month period, the victim estimates he has been accosted and taken to the cash machine on 20 occasions, handing over £4,000.

The victim has since been safeguarded and enquiries have been made to identify the suspects.

They are a white woman, aged between 25 and 35, tall and of a slim build; and a white man, aged between 25 and 35, and 5ft 11ins tall. Both were wearing baseball caps.

DC Lee Walker said: “These are despicable and nasty crimes carried out against a vulnerable man. It is truly appalling to see any vulnerable person targeted. The public will be rightly appalled by news of these crimes.

“While our exhaustive efforts have been ongoing to identify those responsible, work has also been carried out to ensure the victim has been safeguarded.

“Unfortunately, and not through a lack of trying, we have been unable to make any arrests at this stage. That is why we are now asking for the public’s help identifying the two individuals in the CCTV footage. I know it is not of the best quality but hopefully it might jog someone’s memory if they have seen an elderly gentleman walking with a man and woman in the Hallam Road over recent months. Or alternatively in the vicinity of the One Stop shop in Netherfield Road.”

Anyone with information is asked to email forcecontrolroom@lancashire.police.uk or call 101, quoting log 1632 of August 15, 2021.