A MANHUNT has been launched to find someone alleged to have defrauded an elderly woman out of thousands of pounds.

Police are trying to find Noel Ward, who is wanted in connection with a high value fraud allegation that took place within the Southampton area.

It was reported that the 31-year-old was involved in an incident on October 23, 2017 in which an elderly lady was defrauded out of £38,000.

She was told to buy expensive Rolex watches as payment for gardening work, which was not actually carried out.

The victim, a woman in her 70s, was then asked to buy more watches worth £71,000.

Police were alerted by the bank when the woman tried to transfer the huge sum of money from her savings account to her current account to pay for the goods.

Hampshire Constabulary now would like to speak to Mr Ward about this incident.

Officers have carried out a number of enquiries to locate him, and are now turning to the public for help.

Mr Ward also has links to Wiltshire, Dorset, Surrey, and Essex.

Detective Inspector Andy Symes said: “If you know where Noel is, then please do not approach him, but call police right away. This can be done confidentially.

“Please be aware that anyone found to be harbouring him to deliberately obstruct our attempts to locate him may be committing an offence and liable for arrest themselves.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting Operation Synthetic, or call the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.