POLICE suspect two pensioners who had cash stolen from their homes were targeted by the same gang of thieves.

At 2.15pm yesterday, three people called at the Ostrich Lane home of an 80-year-old Prestwich man and asked to use the toilet.

Once inside, two of the offenders searched the lounge and grabbed a wallet containing a small amount of cash.

The male thief is described as white, 5ft 10 inches tall, in his 20s with curly hair. He was accompanied by two white females -- a blonde in her 20s and a woman in her 50s.

Twenty four hours earlier, £44 was stolen by a gang using the same excuse to enter the home of an 87-year-old woman in Hilltop Grove, Whitefield.

Anyone with information about either raid should contact Whitefield CID on 0161 856 8248.