THE police are hunting a “callous” burglar who stole more than £1,000 from a pensioner in Burton.

The incident happened between 1.30pm and 2pm on March 27 at the lady’s home in the Treebys Close area.

When builders she had hired left for lunch, an unknown man entered the property and demanded payment of £1,050 for rent of a digger and to remove rubble.

She handed over the full amount in cash to the man, who refused to sign a receipt for it.

PC Jim Perks, of Christchurch police, said: “It was later discovered that this man was not a builder employed to work on the house and this was a callous theft.

“The victim has been left very distressed.

“I urge all residents, if paying for building work with cash, to ask to see a written invoice and to check the identity of the person requesting payment before handing over any money.”

Witnesses and anyone with information on this crime should call Dorset Police in confidence on 101, quoting incident number 27:295.