THIEVES made off with jewellery worth thousands of pounds after a homeowner was distracted by a man offering gardening services.

Police have warned people not to let strangers into their homes without checking their credentials after the burglary in the village of Merrybent, near Darlington, at 2.30pm on Monday.

The incident happened after two men in a white Transit-type van were seen driving around the village - when approached by a resident one of the men asked if she needed any trees chopping down.

As the man was being shown through the woman's house to look at some trees, the other man entered the ground floor study and stole a number of items, including a camcorder, an iPod and a bag containing jewellery worth a substantial amount of money.

The first man is described as aged 38 to 40, tall with short black greying hair and wearing a grey tracksuit top and black jeans.

He spoke with an Irish accent. There is no description of the second man.

Officers visited homes in the area yesterday to carry out enquiries and to remind people that they should check visitor's credentials before allowing anyone into their home.

Anyone with information about this incident or similar incidents is asked to contact Durham Police on 101 and ask for Darlington CID.