POLICE in have again warned pensioners to be on their guard against bogus officials after two more elderly people fell victim to sneak-in thefts.

In the latest cases, women aged 81 and a 77 were targeted by conmen posing as officials from the council and the water board. The incidents bring the total of sneak-in thefts in Blackburn and Hyndburn to more than 20 since Christmas. Thousands of pounds have been stolen from pensioners by conmen posing as utility officials, council workers and social service staff. In the most recent cases, two men claiming to be housing officials stole £54 from an 81-year-old woman after sneaking into her house on Laxey Road, Blackburn, and rifling through her bag. They claimed they had come to measure up for doors and windows.

In the second case, on Wednesday afternoon, a man claiming to be from the water board stole £300 and ransacked the lounge of a 77-year-old in Sussex Drive, Blackburn, after he said he wanted to read the meter.

Last December, an elderly couple in Ribblesdale Drive, Accrington, had several thousand pounds stolen which they had been saving to buy a stair lift.

Last month, a wheelchair-bound pensioner had £800 stolen after answering the door to two bogus council officials in the Whitebirk area.

Anyone with information should call Blackburn CID on 01254 353569 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.