A BAND of con artists posing as good Samaritans gave a lift to a great-grandmother and then stole her pension.

The callous thieves picked up the woman as she struggled to walk home along the route of a bus service which has recently been axed.

Lynn Waite, of Brassey Close, in Moordown, used to take the number 20 to Winton, where she went to shop and collect her pension.

She has struggled with the journey since the service was cut at the end of last month.

A man, woman and a teenage girl in a car offered her a lift as she battled to make her way home at around 12.30pm on Monday.

The woman and the girl asked to use the pensioner’s bathroom when they dropped her off.

She agreed but once inside the woman distracted Mrs Waite, while the teenage girl rifled through her purse and stole her pension.

But the shaken pensioner’s daughter Karen Yates, 50, a self-employed mother-of-two, claims her elderly mother would never have been subjected to the ordeal if the bus service had not been stopped.

“People like my mum who live around here relied on that route,” Mrs Yates said.

“There’s nowhere else for them to go.

“We have been saving up to take her out to Monkey World for her birthday treat, something she’s really been looking forward to.

“But these people left her with nothing so I have had to give her the only money we had to get her through the week, which was what we’d saved for the trip.

“I just want the bus back so she can get out and about again and have her independence back.”

Moordown councillor Beverley Dunlop said she was extremely worried about the incident and fears that the age of many residents living near Brassey Road and Ripon Road may have prevented them presenting their concerns when the consultation process was conducted. “I have been approached by many people who claim the first they heard about the changes was when notices appeared on the bus stops,” Cllr Dunlop said. Bournemouth Council’s transport chief Councillor Michael Filer, said: “We are using the bus subsidy we have available to support the routes that are used the most in Bournemouth.

“We’ve taken great care to mimimise the impact of route changes and in most areas we have been able to retain bus routes.

“The bus service which operates along Brassey Road has, very regrettably, been withdrawn.

“The council undertook surveys on a number of journeys and the results showed that bus use along this road was very low.

“The council has been able to maintain funding for a bus service on neighbouring roads which are near the area affected.”

Police have appealed to witnesses or anyone with any information to call them on 01202 222222 or anonymously on Crimestoppers 0800 555111.