POLICE officers went above and beyond the call of duty to help a vulnerable pensioner following an attempted burglary in Darlington.

The 73-year-old woman was at home alone when a man forced entry into her home earlier this month.

A quick response saw police arrest the would-be burglar at the scene, but the incident left the elderly lady shaken and terrified.

Touched by her plight, Darlington Police officers embarked upon an unusual course of action in a bid to make her feel secure in her home.

Firstly, D-Relief officers staged a collection and delivered flowers, chocolates and biscuits to the woman.

They then arranged for a police car to be parked outside of her bedroom window every night at 9pm, allowing her to feel reassured as she made her way to bed.

One of the officers involved, Sergeant Barry Evans, said: “For unknown reasons, someone forced entry to this woman’s home.

“She was left extremely frightened by the whole incident and on the back of that, officers took it upon themselves to chip in and present her with some flowers and chocolates.

“They went back to her house each night for the remainder of the week, the night shift parked outside briefly so that she could see them and feel reassured.

“The officers felt for this elderly lady and they wanted to do something to help her.

“It’s not really something we normally do but certain cases do stand out – she’s an older woman and for some time has been confined to her own home due to mobility issues.

“To have that sort of security breached by someone has a real impact and we wanted to make sure she returns to feeling safe.”

Sgt Evans added: “We obviously can’t keep up this level of support indefinitely but we wanted to do our best to look after her, to reassure her and let her know we were out there making sure she was safe.”