CALLOUS burglars stole credit cards from the home of a disabled pensioner while she slept before going on a spending spree.

The 79-year-old woman, from Shoebury, has a spinal injury meaning she needs a key safe in case of emergencies.

Burglars managed to force the key safe off the wall and smash their way into the password protected box with a hammer.

The victim said: “I’m not a frivolous person - I’m not a frightened person, but it affected me far more than I thought.

“But I’m getting over it - there’s nothing you can do, you’ve got to live with it. It’s disgusting what they are doing, and to the elderly too.

“I won’t use a key safe again, I have now given spare keys to trusted people.”

She said she realised when she woke up something was wrong.

The front door was open and her handbag was gone.

She said: “I had a travel wallet with some cash inside in my office which was also gone, and my briefcase on the shelving was gone.

“The briefcase contained documents of a club I help to run - these included all the club members’ details. It’s all gone.

“My leather handbag contained a small amount of money but I had all my cards in there. They went on a spending spree, using contactless payments every few minutes until they couldn’t anymore. “They spent several hundred pounds.

“They even took my blue badge which took more than three weeks to replace.”

The victim phoned the police straight away but says no one came out to her for ten days and the investigation has already been closed following the break-in last month.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “An investigation was carried out, including forensic enquiries, house-to-house enquiries, reviewing of CCTV and enquiries with stores where the victim’s bank cards were used.

"Unfortunately these have not been able to identify a suspect and we have exhausted our current lines of enquiry.

"However any new information that comes to light will be reviewed and we ask anyone with information to contact Southend CID on 101.”