Woman's flood claim money stolen

An 82-year-old Worcestershire woman whose home was flooded last year has had her insurance claim money stolen.

Thieves targeted Vera Binstead after she used her bank card at a cash machine in Victoria Square, Droitwich.

The man and a woman stole her card after distracting her by asking for change. They used it 19 times over two days to draw out more than £4,000.

Mrs Binstead had set aside the money to pay for her funeral. Police have released CCTV images of the thieves.

Hundreds of people in the county were hit by floods last summer, and military help was needed to rescue more than 750 people on a night described by Hereford and Worcester Fire Service as its "worst in living memory".

'Particularly nasty'

Some of the CCTV images were taken at TK Maxx in Cheltenham, where the couple had spent £300 of the victim's money.

Her card was also used at shops in Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

The couple targeted Mrs Binstead, who uses a mobility scooter, last month. Before stealing her card, the man had looked over her shoulder to get her pin number.

Mrs Binstead did not realise her account had been emptied until she returned from a holiday. West Mercia Constabulary said Lloyds TSB had agreed to fully refund her account and was assisting with the police investigation.

Mrs Binstead said: "I don't know where the man came from. I am always careful when using my card to obtain cash and look round to see if anyone is close to me."

She added: "I want to meet them when we've caught them so that I can ask them how they sleep at night after they've done this to someone."

She said it was unusual for her to have a large amount of money, but she was making her funeral arrangements "so that my daughter won't have anything to worry about when I'm gone".

Police want to hear from anyone who can help in the investigation.

Insp Steve Brooker said: "This offence is particularly nasty bearing in mind the vulnerability - particularly through poor mobility - of the 82-year-old victim."

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