TWO men have been bailed and a third released without charge in connection with distraction burglaries on elderly Black Country residents.

A VW Golf was stopped on Hagley Road on Tuesday afternoon by officers from the Central Motorway Police Group following two thefts in Kingswinford on Sunday.

The occupants of the vehicle, aged 18 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of burglary but both men have now been bailed until March while enquiries continue.

A 52-year-old man who was also arrested has been released without charge.

The arrests followed a number of reports of workmen duping elderly residents in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton out of their life savings by offering emergency repairs or gardening work.

A total of 17 reports have been received by local police since the beginning of the year.

Anyone with information is asked to call Dudley Police’s Acquisitive Crime Team at Brierley Hill police station on 101.