Police are urging the public remain vigilant after a spate of watch thefts, including in Poundbury.

A number of incidents have been reported, including an incident in Poundbury on Saturday, July 17, as well as a robbery in Baiter Park in Poole on Monday, July 26 and two further robberies in East Dorset on Wednesday, July 14 and Thursday, July 15.

Detective Sergeant Karen Penn, of Dorset Police's priority crime team, said: "Each of these incidents is subject to a full investigation and we are doing everything we can to identify those involved. We are working with other forces who have experienced similar incidents and sharing intelligence as part of our ongoing enquiries.

"We would like to renew our plea for members of the public to remain vigilant, particularly if they are wearing expensive watches or items of jewellery.

"The victims in these cases are generally men aged around 70 or older and we would urge members of the public to talk to any elderly relatives who could be targeted by this kind of offending to make them aware of these incidents.

"The offenders, who are described in most cases as Eastern European women and speaking in broken English, often pose as people working for a charity and we would remined the public that a genuine charity worker should have no issue with showing their identification if required to do so.

"We would continue to urge anyone who has been a victim of an offence of this nature to report it to police and we would also like to hear from anyone who has come across expensive watches such as Rolexes being offered for sale in suspicious circumstances."

Anyone with information can contact Dorset Police at dorset.police.uk, email [email protected] or by calling 101, quoting incident number 55210086480.

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