Conmen posing as water board officials are targeting pensioners in the Black Country and Birmingham.

Homes in Great Barr, Handsworth and West Bromwich were targeted.

On Wednesday, an 89-year-old man in Blades Road, West Bromwich, was the victim when a man saying he was from the water board knocked on the pensioner’s door at 2.15pm.

The conman, who had an Irish accent and was in his early 20s, said a tap in another house had burst and he needed to check the water pressure. He was in the house for 10 minutes and stole £70 from the pensioner’s wallet.

On Thursday at 9.30pm, two men barged their way past an elderly woman in Amberley Green, Hamstead.

The fraudsters, who were wearing dark black jackets, left the house empty-handed but the woman was badly shaken and went to hospital.

Thirty minutes later, they struck at the home of an 87-year-old woman in High Trees, Handsworth. They told the woman there had been an explosion and they needed to check the water pressure. One followed her into the kitchen while another went upstairs and searched her wardrobe.

But the pensioner called the police, and the pair fled empty handed.

The first man was about 40, 5ft 7in, of large build, clean shaven and wearing brown trousers and a dark tank top. The other man was younger, slim, with medium brown hair, and wore a dark suit.

Call Dc Dawson on 0845 113 5000.