POLICE are hunting a burglar they believe may be targeting elderly people in Oswaldtwistle.

Two elderly women have come face-to-face with a raider in their homes during the last week and police want residents who have seen suspicious people knocking on doors to call them.

Detectives believe a man who forced his way into a 95-year-old woman's house at the weekend may also have struck at a nearby home a week earlier.

In the latest incident on Saturday, a man broke in through the back door of a 95-year-old woman's house in Mayfield Avenue.

The woman asked him what he was doing and he pushed past her telling her to "get away".

The burglar ran off, taking with him an antique gold wristwatch worth £300. Police say the watch is unusual because it has a blue enamel charm on its safety chain. The thief also took a light brown clasp, a dark brown gent's wallet and £80 cash. The man was white, in his early 30s and was about 6ft tall. He was clean-shaven and wore a multi-coloured baseball cap, a light blue waist-length lightweight jacket.

A spokesman for Accrington CID said they believed the break-in might be connected with a similar incident in Catlow Hall Street on Sunday, July 4.

A man wearing a light blue jacket or overalls was seen to knock on an elderly woman's door and walk into her house. She house disturbed the would-be thief in the bathroom and he fled empty-handed.

The man was white, in his 30s and wore a bob cap.

Anyone with information should call Accrington Police on 01254 382141.

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