AN ELDERLY woman handed over £200 in cash for a gardening job she did not order to be done.

A team of gardeners arrived at the 81-year-old's home in Booths Lane, Lymm, last Monday, claiming a relative had booked them. After several days pruning trees and re-pointing brick work, the woman says the gardeners demanded more than £2,000.

She handed over £200 and was going to collect the remaining money from a bank when she was stopped by a relative.

Nephew Terry Gartland said: "She was on her way to draw the rest of the cash out because she thought I had asked them to do the job.

"When I saw what they had done I couldn't believe they asked for £2,000. It's despicable."

Police are warning elderly people to be on their guard to prevent being overcharged for building or gardening work.

Sergeant Mike Jones, community sergeant at Stockton Heath, said: "Pensioners often get targeted because they are vulnerable and often keep large cash at home with them.

"In this case they gardeners did undertake some work and we would have a difficult job proving how much they asked for doing the job.

"Our advice is for people to hire reputable builders and ask for a written estimate for any jobs they want doing before work starts."

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