An 81-year-old woman from Newmarket has spoken out about her disappointment in police after a man forced her to withdraw money from a cash machine.  

The woman, who does not wish to be named, said the man worked for her as a gardener and handyman for some years but became more and more dishonest.

On August 10 this year he turned up to her house with two other men and pulled out a dead tree root from her garden.

He then coerced her into a car with the men and drove her to a cash machine and asked her to withdraw £300 to pay for this work.

She called the police that day and gave them his telephone number and his name, Charlie Barker, although she believes this is a fake name.

A Suffolk Police spokesperson said all reasonable enquiries had been conducted but the case had been filed due to "evidential difficulties" meaning a prosecution was unlikely.

The woman said: “He physically pushed me into the car. I’m 81 and when someone starts to manhandle you into a car you get very frightened.

"I didn’t know what was going to happen next. There were three of them and I had to give in."

She expressed her anger with the police investigation: “The police have given up. They don’t want to do anything.

"I’m sure he’s not doing it just in this area but in other parts of the country as well.

"It’s too much effort to track him so they won’t bother. I think it is ridiculous they won’t make enough effort to catch him.

She added: “All they have done is told me is to keep my doors lock and dial 999 if he comes over.

"I want people to know he is doing this, and he gets into people’s live by cutting hedges and grass then gradually starts to steal and takes control.”

A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: “Police were a made aware of the incident and all reasonable enquiries were conducted.

"Due to evidential difficulties, meaning any prosecution is unlikely, the case will be filed pending any new information and a referral has been made to trading standards to make them aware.

“We would always ask residents to be aware of only accepting help from people you know and/or trust.

“Never deal with unexpected cold callers and you do not have to agree to anything you don’t feel comfortable with.”