POLICE believed an organised gang of cruel tricksters were preying on old folk in the Blackburn area by pretending to be water board officials.

The man escaped with the £400 savings of an 81-year-old lady who suffered from arthritis and fled empty handed from the home of a 61-year-old lady.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.