AN elderly woman has urged people to be extra-alert after bogus gardeners targeted her.
And the couple who called at her Almondbury home also stole tools from her garage.
The 81-year-old - who asked not to be named - said she now felt vulnerable and intimidated.
The couple called at her home at 4pm on Sunday.
The woman said: "The garden did need work doing on it, but it's impossible to get anyone to come and do gardening work these days.
"The man told me the trees and bushes needed reshaping. The garden has had no attention since my husband died this year."
She said the man said it would cost £80 to do both the front and back gardens.
But as the couple spent more time there she began to feel uneasy and believed the man was constantly lying.
She said: "He said they had both been to an agricultural college in Doncaster and that he was a tree surgeon.
"But the woman did the work. She just seemed to hack at the bushes and trees while he swept up."
The man then said the job would cost £110 and she paid £100 to get rid of them. They left before 6pm.
The woman wrote her phone number down for the victim - but no such number exists.
The couple called themselves Mary and Paul.
Both are white. The woman is about 30 with blonde hair tied back.
The man is in his late 30s. He wore a pale blue sweatshirt and fawn combat-style trousers.
They were driving a small, E-reg van.
Phone police on 01484 436659.
