A VILLAGE has come together to help an 80-year-old woman who had more than £1,000 stolen by a fake police officer.

The pensioner, of Lower Road, Hullbridge, allowed the burglar into her home after she pretended to be an undercover police officer needing to search the victim’s home in relation to suspicious activity in the area.

The bogus police officer searched the house for nearly 20 minutes then left with the cash.

After seeing the incident reported in the Echo Jenny Goody, who works at the village’s One Stop shop, in Ferry Road, decided to set up a collection for the pensioner.

She said: “I cannot believe the response we’ve had, it’s amazing, it chokes me up the generosity that people are showing.

“In the shop we try to do as much to support the local community as we can so after I saw it I thought we had to help out in some way.

“It just started off as the Easter egg raffle but people started to make donations and it’s carried on from there.

The collection raked in more than £400 in just two days and customers can also buy a 50 pence raffle ticket to be in with the chance of winning an Easter egg.

Jaime Barnes, store manager, said: “When Jenny mentioned it I said yes straight away.

“I thought it was a wonderful idea, you don’t see much going on in the community anymore.

“It is such a horrible thing to happen to someone but we’ve had a really fantastic response from customers, we are overwhelmed – it’s lovely to see.”

Another collection has also been set up at the bar of the Hullbridge Community Centre, in Pooles Lane.

Bar manager Gerard Rennie saw the collection in One Stop and decided to set up his own in the bar.

He added: “I spoke to the girls in the One Stop and they’d had such a good response I wanted to do something in the bar too.

“I don’t know the woman personally but when something like that happens you want everyone to know about it and help however you can.”

Barneys Pet Supplies, in Hullbridge Road, are also collecting for the pensioner.

The Easter egg will be raffled off at One Stop on Good Friday and donations will be closed on Easter Monday, March 28.

Police have knocked on doors in the area and are asking anyone who saw suspicious activity at the time of the incident, at 5pm on Wednesday, March 9, to contact them.

To contact police call 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org.