Cowboy workers con £400 out of Gwen, 89

7:00pm Thursday 6th September 2007

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COWBOY gardeners ordered an 89-year-old woman to withdraw £400 from her bank to pay for half-an-hour's work tidying her garden - and then called the following day demanding a further £200 to finish the job.

Bournemouth pensioner Gwen Damon answered the door to the two men on Friday, August 31. No price was quoted for the job, and the men left after half-an-hour, claiming their hedge trimmer was broken.

"I never thought I'd be caught out by this sort of thing."

Mrs Gwen Damon

"It all happened so quickly, and I feel such a fool," said Mrs Damon, who is 90 in December.

The men returned the following day, and demanded a further £200 to trim ivy from her garden fence.

"I went off my nut when he begged me for another £200. I told him, You'll be lucky - I haven't got it'," said Mrs Damon.

"I nearly had a fit when I saw all the rubbish they'd left at the bottom of the garden. Thank goodness for my daughter and son-in-law."

Mrs Damon's son-in-law Phillip Smith, who lives in Dean Park, said Mrs Damon had been deeply upset by the experience and had spent the weekend "in floods of tears".

Mrs Damon described the man who asked for the money as aged between 25 and 30, about 5ft 7ins tall, with dark straight hair.

"I'm very active for my age, and I never thought I'd be caught out by this sort of thing," said Mrs Damon.

"I feel so ashamed," she added.

Dorset Police have urged pensioners to be on their guard against unsolicited visits from tradesmen, and asked neighbours of vulnerable people to be extra vigilant.