AN elderly couple from Crudwell have warned residents to be on their guard after they scared off two bogus water board officials last Friday.

The couple, who asked not to be named, said had they not been on their guard the men, who called at around 2.30pm, could have burgled them.

"I think we were very lucky. If we had been a doddery old couple we would have been victims, but because we stood up to them and weren't afraid of them, they went," said the 82-year-old woman.

Her 91-year-old husband was immediately suspicious of the caller, who claimed he was from the water board and asked the couple to turn off the water because an underground pipe had been hit up the road. "I asked him who was in charge, and he couldn't answer me," he said.

The man was about 5ft 5ins, with auburn hair, a round face and small features. He was wearing a white chequered shirt and light trousers, with blue and white trainers.

Once they were in the kitchen, the woman said that she was going to call to check the man's credentials. But when she moved to the hall she found a second man there. He was about 6ft tall, with a white shirt, black hair and stubble. When the woman picked up the phone, both men left the house.

There were further distraction offences in other parts of Wiltshire this week. On Monday at 11am, a 77-year-old woman in Whitehorse Road, Cricklade, had her handbag, chequebook and between £20 and £30 cash taken by a man asking to do gardening work. He is described as white, early 20s, with short dark hair and a ruddy complexion. He was wearing a blue shirt.

At 4pm on the same day in Quemerford, Calne, three men, all about 20 and wearing black, stole items from the home of a pensioner after claiming to be water board officials.

On the same day in Aldbourne, near Marlborough, two men also in their 20s and claiming to be from the water board, duped their way into the home of an elderly woman, persuading her to go upstairs and turn the taps off. When she returned the men had gone and had taken £400.

Anyone with information about the Crudwell incident should call Malmesbury Police on (01666) 822222. Anyone with information about the other incidents, call police on (01380) 722341.