A CRUEL thief stole cash from a pensioner in his 90s in a village near Selby after pretending to be a mobility scooter repair man.

The incident happened in Cliffe last Thursday afternoon.

The thief knocked on his victim's door and told the man he was from Abbey Mobility - a genuine firm based in New Street, Selby.

Purely by coincidence the pensioner, who is partially deaf and has mobility problems, was a customer at Abbey Mobility and had a fault on his scooter.

The thief said he would carry out the work for £150 in cash up front but the pensioner refused.

The bogus repair man then dropped the amount to £50, but again his potential victim refused.

But when the thief had gone he discovered that £160 was missing from his mantelpiece. A call to Abbey Mobility also confirmed they had sent no one out.

Now Matt Carter, joint owner of the firm, says he wants to warn all his customers about the sneak thief to ensure he cannot strike again.

He said all of the company's employees have identification badges, and would never turn up on someone's doorstep unannounced.

He also said that staff members would never ask for cash up front, but would first assess the job before letting the client know how much the work would cost.

Because Abbey Mobility sometimes works with vulnerable people it also follows certain rules, he said.

Mr Carter said: "The gentleman concerned rang us to ask if we had sent one of our engineers round. We're not allowed to do that without prior appointment.

"The elderly are vulnerable, which is why if we do something we have to document it in a diary and we have ID badges as well."