A CONMAN posing as a council worker duped pensioners out of their cash after he offered to remove unwanted furniture from their homes.

Shortly before 3.30pm yesterday, the man, who was wearing blue overalls and a yellow hard hat, cheated cash from an elderly man in Fishburn, before conning a woman in her late seventies.

The bogus caller struck up a conversation with the man from Butterwick Road, Fishburn, and offered to get rid of a sofa from the man's front garden for a fee of £60.

The man handed over the cash and the sofa was moved to the front of the garden, but the fraudster ran off towards Fishburn crossroads and didn't return.

The conman then approached a woman in her late seventies and talked her into handing over £5 for the removal of property.

Sergeant Bob Porter, from Spennymoor police, said a number of elderly people lived in the area and since the caller had approached uninvited, it appeared they had been deliberately targeted.

The man is described as about 40, 5ft 6in tall and thinly built.

His overalls were "tatty".

The Northern Echo's Doorstoppers campaign launched last year, is aiming to raise awareness of bogus callers and door-to-door sales teams.

Anyone with information is asked to ring the police on 0845 606 0365 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.