TWO doorstep conmen who preyed on old and vulnerable people were yesterday beginning lengthy prison sentences.

Michael Price and Andrew Thompson, who posed as gardeners, were jailed thanks to an off-duty police officer's swift actions.

Durham Crown Court heard that Detective Constable Edward Hollingsworth saw Price acting suspiciously, unsteady on his feet, on the doorstep of a bungalow in Cragside, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, in September.

Stephen Duffield, prosecuting, said Price, who told the 86-year-old occupant he had come to work on her garden, managed to get into the house and was putting her handbag in his jacket when the detective burst into the living room.

A struggle followed, and the householder was asked to phone the police by Det Con Hollingsworth.

He managed to subdue and arrest Price, while officers arriving at the scene caught Thompson, who fled on foot from a van parked outside the house.

Mr Duffield said that when caught in nearby woodland, Thompson was in possession of heroin.

The pair were subsequently accused of a similar incident a month earlier, in which Price gained access to the home of an 80-year-old blind man in Hill Crest, Esh Village, near Durham, taking a bank credit card from his wallet.

It was used three times that day, with goods totalling £180 bought at convenience stores.

Price, 23, of Lowther Avenue, Chester-le-Street, admitted two burglary charges and three counts of obtaining by deception.

Andrew James Thompson, 26, of Coverley, Great Lumley, near Chester-le-Street, admitted one burglary, three deception charges and possession of a class A drug.

He was previously convicted by a jury of the Chester-le-Street burglary, after the prosecution said it was "a joint enterprise", even though he denied it, saying he was only sitting outside in the van.

Aisha Wadoodi, in mitigation, said the pair had performed gardening work for some of the people they called on.

Jailing both for three-and-a-half years, Judge Richard Lowden said they were mean offences, targeting vulnerable victims.

Detective Constable Andy Findley, of Durham CID, who led the inquiry, yesterday welcomed the sentence, saying they were difficult cases to investigate because of the frailty of the victims that were involved