AN ALLEGED conman posing as a man of all trades is said to have fleeced thousands of pounds from elderly residents.

The latest stunt, saw a number of residents in Leigh, hand over cash to a man known as Gary Tatchell, for block paving cleaning that was never done.

One of the residents, aged 80, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, said: "My husband died a year ago today and used to sort out all the jobs like that, including cleaning the driveway.

"This is my first year trying to deal with everything so when I was interested when this man knocked on my door one evening just before Christmas saying he could have the job done by Christmas.

"He reassured me by telling me he was already doing my neighbours' driveways.

"I let him into my home and he started writing my name and address down and then gave me a phone and said could you read this number out to me please, which I did, and thought nothing of it.

"He then told me he wanted a deposit and wanted half of the £270 he had quoted me.

"I told him I didn't have that kind of money in the house, and he asked me if there was a cash point nearby and tried to make me go with him to withdraw the money.

"I told him I wouldn't do that and I gave him £50.

"He wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to me as a receipt and said he would be back tomorrow afternoon to collect the rest, and even said 'when I do your neighbours'."

When the pensioner began to think it through that night, she began to worry and asked a family member for some advice.

She then remembered the house number of one of her neighbours that Gary had referenced while he was at her home.

The elderly lady walked over to ask if they were having works carried out by the same man.

She explained: "I had never spoken to these neighbours before, but they told me they had been approached by the same man and that he said he was working somewhere else and that it seemed feasible.

"He then told me he would go over there tomorrow to see if he could see him working.

"He went over there the next day and said he saw a man jet washing the path so it looked as if it was okay.

"My son then also said it sounded feasible, so I said I would go ahead."

When Gary came back to the lady's house, she coughed up another £130. Then the following day he came back again and said 'Can you help me out, I'm staying at a hotel and the bill needs to be paid tonight, could you pay the rest of the money now please?.

So the innocent woman handed over the rest of the cash totalling £270.

When the Friday came, Mr Tatchell was nowhere to be found and was unreachable on both mobile numbers he had provided.

A family member of the woman said: "I just cannot believe this man is preying on the elderly and the vulnerable, it's just disgusting.

"We have so much evidence against him from speaking to others he has done this too.

"We have even found out where he lives and have all the information there but the police still won't arrest him.

"We just want the money back and justice."

A twitter page under the name of Gary Tatchell appears to have been created in 2016 by another victim, stating it has been set up to warn others.

Several others have come forward on Facebook explaining similar experiences where Gary has taken money upfront with no intention of paying.

The Echo contacted both the numbers he provided his customers with - one was no longer in use.

There was no response from the other.