Woman, 96, from Hucknall targeted by distraction burglars

Nottinghamshire Police are trying to find the men claimed to work for a water company so they could enter the home of a 96-year-old woman from Hucknall.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

A man entered the property and went upstairs saying he was going to check on the water in the bathroom. It's believed he then left the property empty-handed.

It happened at about 10.45am on August 28.

One of the men is said to have been white, aged in his 30s and has dark hair. He wore a white face mask and a yellow high-visibility vest.

Do you recognise these men?Do you recognise these men?
Do you recognise these men?

Detective Constable Anthony Hewitt, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "While we don’t believe anything was stolen we would like to identify the two men pictured who we believe could help us with our investigation.

"If you know who they are we’d like to hear from you.

"Some criminals often prey on our most vulnerable residents, tricking their way into homes by making up stories, by pretending to work for an official company or asking for help to try to gain entry.

"We want to remind people to be on their guard, especially if someone you’re not expecting – a man, woman or even a child – knocks on your door.

"Don't allow anyone without valid identification access to your home and, if you're unsure, don't let them in. Keep the chain on the door while talking to them and check with the company that the person is purporting to be from.

"Our advice is always to say no to cold-callers and to report any suspicious activity to police immediately.”

As the nights get darker earlier other advice includes leaving a light on inside your home, use a timer switch to operate the lights as it starts to get dark and change the times that the lights come on to simulate an occupied home.

Make sure your front door is well lit. Use dusk to dawn lighting that automatically comes on as it gets dark and make sure you keep your doors and windows locked at all times.

If anyone has any information which could help police with their investigation please call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 214 of August 28.

For more advice visit www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/document/advice-home.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor