A CALLOUS conman stole an elderly woman’s engagement ring and her late husband’s war medals after tricking his way into her home.

The bogus inspector claimed to be checking the gas and water supply ahead of ‘urgent work’ he said was soon to be carried out.

He called on 88-year-old Irene Upton at her home in Old Road, Astley Bridge, at about 10.30am on Thursday morning.

Despite her initial suspicions, he managed to trick the pensioner into allowing him into the house. Once inside, he pretended to take some details and ‘messed about’ with taps in the kitchen to create the impression he was there in an official capacity.

But when he went upstairs on the pretext of checking a boiler, Mrs Upton’s suspicions were again aroused.

She called her daughter, Gill Riviere, who lives next door but, when she arrived, the man had gone.

It was then they discovered the man had snatched medals awarded to Mrs Upton’s late husband, William Upton, for serving in the RAF during the Second World War, as well as two of his brother’s army medals.

He had also taken the gold and platinum diamond engagement ring given to Mrs Upton 70 years ago and a silver full crown she was given when daughter Christine was born.

A gold watch given to Mrs Upton by her daughters, as a gift on behalf of their father who was then suffering from dementia, is also missing.

It was to mark the couple’s golden wedding anniversary and came with a note which read, ‘All my love Bill’. 

Mrs Riviere said the incident had left her mother, who lost her husband 14 years ago, deeply upset.

She said: “My mum is shaken up and she feels pretty silly and annoyed that she was taken in by him.

“She knew she shouldn’t have let him in but he managed to trick her. We want to make people aware that there’s someone like this going around in the area. We wouldn’t like it to happen to anyone else.”

And although Mrs Riviere says the stolen items are not worth a huge amount of money, their sentimental value is incalculable.

“It’s all we have left to remember my dad by,” she said.

“I feel pretty angry and shook up. My mum is vulnerable and I feel bad that, even though I live next door, I wasn’t there at the time to do anything about it.”

Mrs Riviere also believes the conman may not have been acting alone.

She said: “He could have been distracting her. She mentioned a problem with the drains and, while he was out looking in the back yard, he could have had an accomplice come in, as the front door was still open.”

Mrs Upton’s granddaughter, Rachel Riviere, lives with her but was at work when the conman called.

The 26-year-old, who teaches at Bolton College, said: “I’m fuming about it. It’s not something that seems to have happened to anyone else in the area and we feel like they might have been waiting for me to go to work.

“It’s just sick. They went through all my stuff as well, all my drawers and my jewellery box were open.”

But she says she is relieved her grandmother had come to no harm.

She said: “We just want to get the message out. There are so many vulnerable older people who come from a generation where they leave their doors unlocked and trust people in authority to do a job. It’s just unfair.”

The conman is described as being ‘good looking’, in his late 20s or early 30s and with brown hair.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.