Surrey Police are advising people to keep an eye on vulnerable friends and family, following an incident in which a 94-year-old lady was conned out of more than £176,000.

The incident happened in Fetcham and began in September 2009 when a man by the name of Mr Matthews claimed the lady's roof needing repairing and offered to fix it for £48,000.

It is not clear what work, if any, was carried out or the quality of the repairs.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector David Cooper, said: “This is a staggering amount of money to have been conned from an elderly lady, the kind of sustained and merciless fraud I have not seen before. Officers with many, many years of experience are shocked and appalled that during a six-month time span this elderly victim was persistently targeted by such heartless criminals.”

Two months after the initial contact, in November 2009, a further £23,000 was paid to Mr Matthews and later that month a cheque for £10,000 was given Mr Sparrow who claimed to be working for an insurance company overseeing the repairs.

In January, Mr Matthews returned claiming building regulations had changed and requested a further £48,000. Three more cheques, totalling £28,000, were paid between January and April this year.

Due to the victims frailty, the police do not have descriptions of the suspects, so they are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

Surrey police are working with Trading Standards to gather intelligence against the people involved.

Anyone with information should contact Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.