AN 80-year-old Marlborough woman has called her self a fool and an idiot after letting a doorstep conman into her home.

The pensioner, who has asked not to be identified, is counting the cost of opening her door to a man she believed was a genuine antiques dealer.

Right by the front door of her home in Elcot Lane is a sticker saying: "Never buy or sell at the door."

The caller asked his elderly victim if she had any old books or 78 records to sell but then duped her into taking £300 for a couple of small antiques.

On the way out he helped himself to antiques worth almost ten times as much.

The pensioner lives alone and answered her door last Thursday at about 10am. She said the caller, a smartly dressed man in his late 40s, asked if she had any old records she wanted to sell.

The pensioner said she was just about to take a bath and asked the man to return at about noon, which he did.

She said: "I have four cases full of old records in my loft which I thought I might as well sell so I asked him in."

She added: "It was my own silly fault for letting him in."

Her caller never stopped speaking during the hour or so he was in her home. He attempted to get up into the loft but was unable to and asked the woman if she wanted to sell any of the antiques in her home.

She said later: "I don't think he wanted any records, that was just his excuse to get in."

The woman, who has difficulty walking, sat in her sitting room while she thought the caller was replacing the loft trap door.

He then brought her an antique mirror he had spotted in her bedroom and said that, although it was full of woodworm, he wanted to buy it.

She said: "I was getting confused and he kept dropping £20 notes on the coffee table in front of me."

Eventually she told the caller he could have the mirror, an old barometer and a mahogany reel stand for £300.

She remained in her sitting room as the man left the house with, she believed, the three items he had paid for.

Later she noticed other valuable heirlooms were missing and called the police.

The woman said: "It was entirely my fault. I am ashamed to say I let him in and I feel an absolute fool.

"My son has told me I behaved like an idiot and I cannot disagree."

Police say they are not sure if the conman was alone or if he had an accomplice who removed antiques while he kept her distracted.

The pensioner agreed to tell the Gazette about her experience as a warning to other elderly people, particularly those living alone.

Insp Bill Dowling, the Marlborough area police commander, said the incident highlighted the issue of bogus callers preying on the elderly, regardless of the frailty of their victims and the distress they caused.

However, he added, it was different to normal distraction offences in that the man kept his victim chatting for between 45 minutes and an hour.

The haul included an 18th century Queen Anne mirror, valued at £500; an antique map of Wiltshire by Robert Morden, worth £500; a £1,000 walnut-framed mirror, a Victorian mahogany reel stand, valued at £100; an Atwood 19th century wheel-type barometer valued at £500 and an antique stool, for which no value was given.

The woman described the trickster as being about 6ft, of stocky build with short, dark, thinning hair. He was wearing a smart jacket and spoke with a London accent.

A witness using nearby allotments saw a blue Range Rover outside the women's home from 10.30am to 12.30pm and police want to hear from anyone else who saw it in Elcot Lane.