POLICE are appealing to people in Darwen to keep their homes secure after bogus salesmen swooped on the town.

Two 81-year-olds, living at opposite ends of Darwen, were victims of criminals posing as Water Board officials. The crimes were carried out at 6.20 and 6.45pm on Wednesday.

In one of them, three offenders made off with £540 and a gold watch from a home in Carr Road.

DC John Entwistle, of Darwen CID, said: "People need to make sure that their homes are locked up because these criminals won't think twice if a door is open. They will walk straight in.

"Anyone who has seen anything suspicious should get in touch with us and we would like to remind people to always check identification, no matter how genuine the callers look."

Anyone with any information on the crimes should contact Darwen CID on 01254 353842.