POLICE have praised a actions of a new neighbourhood watch co-ordinator whose sharp eyes helped to catch a suspected bogus caller.
Chester-le-Street community inspector Paul Anderson said there had been a spate of five bogus calls in the district on the same day.
A man, who claimed his wife was pregnant and was about to give birth, had been asking occupants to be let in to make a phone call to contact the hospital.
Insp Anderson said: "He stole a handbag containing £210 in a house in Sacriston.
"A short while later a neighbourhood watch co-ordinator was travelling behind a car on the Craghead road, near Pelton Fell, when he noticed a handbag being thrown out of its window.
"He took the registration number down and contacted us immediately. As a result the man was arrested.
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