FIVE elderly people were burgled in Whitstable in just one hour on Saturday evening.

War medals and rings belonging to a pensioner's dead wife were among items taken in offences police have described as sickening.

The same man or group is thought to be responsible.

He first struck at about 5pm in Dorset Close, telling an 81-year-old man there was a problem with the water in his house. He pushed past the man and started to search the house but left when told the police had been called.

An 86-year-old widower in the same road found his bedroom had also been entered that evening, and wedding and engagement rings belonging to his wife, who had recently died, were missing. About £300 was also taken.

Rifling drawers

At 5.30pm the burglar told a woman living in Deborah Close that the house next door was on fire and about to explode. He ran into the house, grabbing two handbags containing cash, before running back into the street.

He struck again just before 6pm in Lang Court, a complex of sheltered accommodation in Marine Crescent. He pushed an 87-year-old man to the floor and searched his pockets after the victim found him rifling through drawers.

Ambulance crews had to be called to the man who was suffering from shock. The burglar took a bronze First World War medal and some cash. Also in Lang Court, a wheelchair-bound 82-year-old man had cash and belongings stolen after the man appeared in his flat and said he had to turn the water off.

Det Sgt Jeff Vincett, leading the investigation, said: "We are doing everything we can to track down the people behind these sickening crimes."

Anyone who witnessed any of these crimes or who could provide information to help police should contact Det Sgt Vincett on 01227 762055 or call Crimestoppers, free and confidentially, on 0800 555 111.

• Police fear burglaries could lead to murder page 3