The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Lincolnshire Police have apologised after officers failed to show up when a disabled octogenarian told them fraudsters were coming to fleece him for hundreds of pounds.
The man, who The Voice has chosen to keep anonymous, was visited at his South Holland home by two people claiming to be gardeners on Tuesday, September 11.
After what the victim describes as “two and a half hours’ work” they billed him £700 and said would be back for the money at 10am the following morning.
Realising he was being scammed, the victim alerted Lincolnshire Police and he says he was told that officers would attend at the same time.
The following morning however the police didn’t turn up but the fraudsters did.
The victim, whose only relation is a sister who lives more than 100 miles away, did negotiate the cost of the work down to £300, but they left with that amount of his money.
The police failed to turn up despite the man in question having already having been identified as vulnerable after he says he lost £8,000 from a driveway scam back in July.
Following that incident a few weeks ago he’d been allocated a special volunteer as part of Operation Revive, Lincolnshire Police’s campaign to “raise awareness of doorstep crimes and scams”.
Lincolnshire Police say officers have apologised to the man for not turning up.
He said: “They just said they were busy.
“They kind of apologised.
“It was ‘a sorry we couldn’t come as we were busy’.
“I do realise they’re busy. I’m not sure how busy you can be around South Holland.
“I guess it depends on what the priority is.”
On the fraudsters returning, he said: “I had words with them and said I didn’t want to pay £700 so they said ‘call it £300’.
“I didn’t want to give it but I didn’t want any aggro.”
He continued: “I’m disappointed but there’s nothing you can do about it now.
“It’s just one of those things but I’m going to make sure I say no to everyone that comes to the door now.”
The victim contacted The Voice as he wanted to alert other people to the gardening scam so they do not fall for it and left out of pocket.
Lincolnshire Police say the man was visited by officers on Saturday, September 15 after another possible attempt to scam the man on Friday that was not successful.
A spokesman for Lincolnshire Police, said: We apologised to the victim on the morning we visited in relation to his most recent incident.
“We have visited the victim and taken details for a crime of fraud which we are investigating.
“Our Operation Revive team have also visited and continue to provide support.
“The Operation Revive project supports existing police resources and the work of Neighbourhood Policing Teams.”
When asked if the gardening scam incident could be related to a similar incident in Moulton on Monday, August 27, for which a police appeal was released last week, the spokesman said: “The inquiries will bear it in mind.”
In that incident men also offered to trim hedges for an elderly resident.
