TWO smartly-dressed men posing as rat catchers stole from an 83-year-old woman.

The offenders struck at 1.30pm on Thursday (Aug 19) when they called at the elderly woman's home in the Polefield area of Prestwich.

They told the victim that she had rats in her rear yard. While one of the callers kept the woman talking, his accomplice entered the house and stole a purse containing £180 cash from a drawer.