BOGUS callers struck in the Marlborough area again this week leaving police puzzled by the fact that the majority of recent offences have happened on Monday afternoons.

The raid, at about 1.30pm on Monday, came in a week when pensioners were conned in Wroughton, Crudwell, Devizes and Chippenham.

It is believed two thieves were involved in the latest incident that occurred at the home of a 67-year-old woman in Southward Lane, Aldbourne.

One of them knocked on the woman's door on Monday afternoon to say a digger had struck the water main further along the road and they needed to flush her house's water pipes through.

The man described as being aged between 20 to 25, about 5ft 7-8ins, smartly dressed with a shirt and tie and having a fresh complexion, asked the women to take him to her upstairs bathroom and turn all the taps on.

After he had left the house the woman, who lives with an elderly brother, discovered that a cash box in her bedroom had been rifled and £420 put away to pay her council tax had been stolen.

The woman thought the caller who spoke with an English accent might have been wearing a baseball cap but a younger witness who saw the man in the street thought he was bareheaded, said PC Mike Barrett, who is investigating the incident.

PC Barrett said the theft had left the woman badly shocked and feeling insecure in her own home.

Police are mystified why the doorstep conmen appear to be targeting the Marlborough and Pewsey areas on Mondays and invariably in the afternoon or evening.

PC Barrett said elderly residents were still not heeding the oft repeated warnings not to allow any callers into their homes without first seeking proper identification and, if necessary, telephoning the utility company they claim to represent to see if they have staff working in the area.

Anyone who saw the man who police believe had an accomplice is asked to contact PC Barrett at Marlborough police station (01672) 512311.