A 97-YEAR-OLD woman has been duped of £600 cash, jewellery and her handbag after a thief talked his way into her home by pretending there was a water leak.

Police investigating the distraction burglary have described the victim as being "very upset" after being conned by the man who ransacked her flat in Balaclava Road, Bitterne, Southampton.

He stole £600 cash that the woman was due to put into her bank account and a tatty non leather brown handbag with two outside pockets.

Among the jewellery items he stole was a pearl necklace, a ring with four to five diamonds and a two-centimetre wide patterned gold bracelet.

Now police are appealing for witnesses to the incident which happened on Friday evening at 6pm.