POLICE are turning to banks and building societies to stop old people being "bled" of their savings by con men.

Last week Bolton bank staff were praised in court for raising the alarm when an old man began withdrawing large amounts for no apparent reason.

This week Lancashire police launched their initiative aimed at protecting the old and vulnerable.

Confidence trickster Crime is a growing in the region and one of the most common offences is where unscrupulous con men, posing as builders, demand huge sums for work that is neither needed nor completed. In the recent case, Lawrence Nolan was jailed for three years for conning a Bolton man of 82 out of £25,000 of his life savings.

The new campaign, being run by Lancashire police and the Lancashire Partnership Against Crime, aims to increase the awareness of bank and building society staff.

They are being issued with stickers listing the tell tale signs which can alert them to potential victims.

Rossendale's crime prevention officer, Sgt Simon Wilson, who devised the sticker, said: "The signs are easy to spot, if staff are aware of them. "Besides withdrawing a large amount of cash, the victims can be accompanied by a younger man or woman and insist on cash for building work there and then."

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