Two elderly Bridport residents have been scammed out of thousands of pounds and police are appealing for help to identify the fraudsters.

Sometime between 10am and 10.30am on Wednesday, December 9, the first victim - a woman in her 70s - received a phone call from someone purporting to be a detective sergeant from Oxford police.

The caller told the victim a man had been caught with her bank card and urged her to go to the bank and withdraw £4,700. She returned home with the cash, where it was arranged for a courier to attend her home in Happy Island Way. A male courier arrived between 4.30pm and 5pm to collect the money.

The courier is described as white, very tall and thin, approximately aged in his early 20s and with dark curly hair. He wore a high-visibility jacket, headlight around his head and Lycra leggings.

The victim suspected sometime later that she may have been scammed so she contacted her bank on Thursday, December 10 and then reported the matter to Dorset Police.

A second offence is reported to have occurred also on Wednesday, December 9 when a man aged in his 80s received a call in the morning from a detective inspector purporting to be from Bristol police.

The victim was told his bank account had been scammed and that £9,000 had been taken out and paid back in forged notes. He was asked to go to his bank to withdraw £6,000, but staff told him he would have to return the following day. He was advised by the scammer to go to another bank and, if needed, lie about why he needed the money.

The victim successfully withdrew the money and a man attended the victim's Hillview address during the afternoon to collect it.

Detective Inspector Kate Lill, of Weymouth CID, said: "These are despicable offences and a full investigation is underway to identify the people responsible. I am appealing to anyone who was in the area of Happy Island Way between 4.30pm and 5pm yesterday or Hillview and saw the man described, or a suspicious vehicle, to please contact Dorset Police.

"I would urge any motorists with dashcam who were driving in the area or residents with home CCTV systems to check their footage from this time period to see if they have captured the courier or any relevant vehicle.

"We have received further reports of attempted frauds over recent days in other parts of West Dorset and we would like to remind everyone that police officers nor your bank will ask you to withdraw money to be collected. They will also not ask for your PIN number. If you are in any doubt, hang up and call your bank directly.

"I would ask our communities to speak directly to elderly friends, family and neighbours about this scam so they are aware and we can prevent anyone else handing over their money to conmen."

Anyone with information should call Dorset Police on 101, email [email protected] or report it online quoting incident number 55200184989.

To stay anonymous, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.