A callous trickster pretended to be a policeman so he could steal £1,000 from a 94-year-old woman.

The bogus policeman persuaded her to go to Epsom Police station and take part in a fictitious identity parade while he took the opportunity to steal her savings.

The conman called at the woman's home in Chessington Road, Ewell, at about 11.30am on Tuesday, March 13, and told her that he was a police officer investigating a burglary.

He went up to the bathroom and told her that he needed a bowl of water to help him take fingerprints, then he asked her to go to the police station later that day to help officers identify the burglars who had struck in the area.

But she was told by genuine police officers that they weren't expecting her and when she returned home she found that £1,000 had been stolen.

The suspect is white, aged between 25 and 30, with dark curly hair, which was long on top and was wearing dark clothes and a waist-length jacket.

Det Con Stacey Bolton, who is investigating, said: "This goes to show these people will try anything to trick their way into victims' homes.

"These kind of burglaries are always so despicable because the offenders deliberately target the most vulnerable members of society.

"We will, of course, do all we can to locate this offender and to investigate this matter fully as we continue to crack down on burglary across Surrey."

Anyone who recognises this description or has information is asked to contact DC Stacey Bolton at Epsom Police Station on 0845 125 2222 quoting A/07/7221 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.