ELSIE was a strong-willed pensioner who lived happily on her own in a Gwent valley town - until someone came to inspect the household plumbing.

Now she is constantly fearful, hates living alone, has been robbed of £80 and has never had anything wrong with her water supply.

Elsie is not her real name. She is forced to remain anonymous, just like the so-called 'water board inspectors' who turned out to be bogus.

One of them distracted her while the other stole the money from her purse.

"They were so friendly and they looked right," she said. "I suppose I should have asked them for identification. But you don't think of that at the time.

"The police were so good about it. They told me not to worry and gave me lots of advice."

More help is now available in a Beat the Bogus Callers campaign announced this week by the Home Office.

Its motto is 'Stop, Chain, Check' - advising householders to keep callers out of the house with a front-door security chain while they check their identification. No ID, no entry.

There's also a guide to prevent crime and a kit containing advice, videos and other useful gadgets designed to deter doorstep fraudsters, whether they pretend to be water workers, police or any other individuals with a need to make calls.

Organisations to which genuine callers belong will be encouraged to obtain kits so that staff can demonstrate crime prevention to householders.

Bogus callers were operating in the Newport area this week. And the latest incident in Gwent was on Monday, its victim a Mardy woman in her 80s.

PC Eddie Gulliford, from Abergavenny, said: "A man told her he needed access to an adjoining property to lay some water pipes because there was a leak there.

"The lady accompanied him and he showed her where the problem was going to be. She went back into the house and noticed one bedroom door was open and the bed disturbed, and her purse missing along with cash."

Newport council's MD, Chris Freegard said council workers could tell householders that their ID could be checked by phoning the civic centre.

"We would encourage all householders to ask for an identification card from anyone who comes to their home uninvited and refuse entry to those who cannot provide one," he said.