DETECTIVES hunting three robbers, who lifted a 92-year-old woman off the bed in which she was sleeping so they could search for money under her mattress, say the raid could be one of a series.

As reported in later editions of the Daily Echo yesterday, the pensioner was terrified after she awoke to find three intruders in her terraced home in Hamilton Road, Bishopstoke.

She had been sleeping in the ground floor lounge where she has a bed, and was picked up and moved by the raiders before they escaped with around £400 from various places in the house.

Today, detectives were still not naming the 92-year-old victim, who is hard of hearing and has poor eyesight.

But they were not ruling out the possibility that the incident was one of a series of raids on old people's homes in the area on the same day. Three sheltered housing accommodation units were broken into between 3.30pm and 11pm on Tuesday at nearby Fair Oak and at Botley.

At Pudbrook House in Botley's Bailey Close, burglars forced open a ground-floor window to get into the warden-assisted accommodation and made off with £70.

In nearby Cheping Gardens, burglars got into a rear bedroom while the occupant was at the front of the house and stole £150 without the elderly resident realising there had been a break-in until she found that money was missing.

At Oakdene Gardens, Fair Oak, intruders stole £150 and a pension book after getting through a ground floor window and searching a bedroom.

Det Insp Brian Mitchell said: "We are investigating the possibility that these series of burglaries may have a link."

He also said detectives were keeping an open mind about links between the Bishopstoke robbery and recent incidents in Lymington and at Canada Common.

Because of her poor eyesight and the fact that her room was dark, the Bishopstoke woman has been unable to give police descriptions of the intruders. But detectives have appealed for witnesses who saw anyone suspicious in the area between noon and 7.30pm on Tuesday - particularly anyone who saw someone carrying a ladder - to contact them. They also want to hear from anyone who may have found the bottom of a beige tin with a floral pattern which was taken from the Bishopstoke address.

They renewed their appeal for information on the Lymington and Canada Common raids. Call Eastleigh CID on 0845 045 4545.