An elderly woman was tricked out of £1,000 by a bogus workman claiming to have worked for her before.

The 89-year-old woman was gardening at the front of her home in Salisbury Road, Carshalton, when she was approached by a man on Wednesday, July 25.

The caller said: “Remember me? I cleaned your gutters and repaired your roof.”

The woman replied that she was unable to recall such repairs.

The man offered to get rid of the weeds in her paving and fill in the gaps with cement. They agreed that she would pay £100.

She gave the man £40 upfront to pay for materials and the man asked her to open the back gate so he could see the paving.

The woman obliged - leaving him for a few minutes at her open front door.

After she had opened the gate the man told her to close it and departed. She then noticed the money had gone from her bedroom.

The incident took place 1- 2.30pm. The suspect is described as a white male, aged in his 40s, about 5ft 4in tall.

He has short brown hair and was wearing a blue jacket and a dark coloured cap.

Officers made door-to-door enquiries of every house in the road. If you saw this man or can identify him, please contact Sutton’s burglary and robbery investigation team on 020 8649 0777. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PC Duncan Harris, of Sutton’s crime prevention team, urged residents not to agree to have work carried out on their properties by opportunist callers at their front door. He said Sutton Council has a safer Sutton trader scheme which seeks to help residents employ trades people - and be confident that certain standards will be met.

For details visit sutton.gov.uk/safersuttontrader. Copies are available from Age Concern or the Civic Offices or by calling 020 8770 5070. Residents can also request a door sticker to try to reduce the cold callers knocking on their door from any police station or civic offices.