The workmen charged thousands for painting a wall and repairing a gutter in two incidents in the Warlingham area of Surrey, officers said.

The victims were a woman, 82, and a man, 79, said Det Con Rebecca Sargent.

She warned other residents in east Surrey against using tradesmen who cold-call at their homes and said they could be "very persuasive".

"We have seen victims pay for work which has not been completed and in one case the workmen carried out work which wasn't even necessary," she said.