AN ELDERLY woman lost hundreds of pounds following a distraction burglary in her own home.

At around 9.20am on Monday, November 25, a man attended a property in Kinson Grove and tried to convince the occupant their garden fence required maintenance.

The occupant and victim, an elderly woman, discussed this inside the property with the man before turning down the offer.

It was only later that the victim discovered her purse containing bank cards was missing from her handbag.

One of the bank cards was subsequently used to withdraw £500 from a cash machine at the Tesco supermarket in Kinson at around 9.55am.

Police constable Jonathan Bedwell, of Bournemouth police, said: “We are doing everything we can to support the elderly victim and identify the man involved.

“I am now in a position to issue a CCTV image of a man we would like to identify as part of our enquiries.

“I would ask anyone who has knowledge regarding his identity to please come forward.”

Anyone with information can contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55240181061.