BOGUS workmen stole cash from a wheelchair-bound pensioner after one of them kept her talking while his accomplice crept in through a back door.

The pair struck at the 61-year-old woman's home in Westhoughton on Monday afternoon, posing as engineers who needed to check her water supply.

A man knocked at the front door of the house on Higher Southfield at 4pm and kept the woman talking while a second man sneaked in through an unlocked back door and stole £80 from her handbag.

The victim realised she had been burgled when the men had left.

Police believe the same pair were responsible for an unsuccessful attempt to get in to another home earlier that afternoon and have warned residents to be on their guard against intruders.

Two men went to a house on Park Road at 2.55pm and told a 72-year-old woman they needed to isolate her water supply following an "explosion" in the street.

The woman would not let the men inside the house because they did not have identification. In both incidents, the men were described as white, about 30 to 40 years old, between 5ft 8ins and 5ft 10ins tall, with dark hair and local or possibly Irish accents.

One of the men was wearing a navy coloured fleece and the pair may have been using an S-registered car in silver or grey.

Sgt Ian Coop said: "Genuine workmen will carry identification and residents should not let anybody into their home unless this is the case."

Anybody with information is asked to contact police on 0161 872 5050 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.