CHRISTMAS is in tatters for devoted pensioners Eric and Lilian Moore who have been left penniless for the season of goodwill after bogus callers stole their life savings, jewellery and valuable war medals.

The elderly couple were victims of a distraction burglary during which an intruder posing as water board official kept the pair occupied in the kitchen while an accomplice turned over the bedrooms at their Avening cottage.

Heartbroken Mr Moore, 88 - whose medals had been passed down from his father, who was killed at Ypres in the First World War - has urged elderly householders to be vigilant when unknown visitors arrive at the door.

"He took us both into the kitchen and locked the door," said Mr Moore, a grandfather-of-six, who spoke to the SNJ after the theft on Friday.

"We told him we didn't have a leak but he started looking around for the stop taps and kept asking questions.

"When he'd gone I went upstairs and I was horrified.

"The dressing table was all over the landing and everything had been tipped upside down. I've never seen such a shambles in all my life.

"I still think about it now. I won't open the door for anybody any more."

As well as taking the cherished items and around £4,000 in cash - which had been saved over the past 26 years and was stashed in a wardrobe and drawers - the fraudsters also tore open a box containing Mr Moore's wedding suit, leaving it strewn across the floor.

"The money was saved in case anything happened to us," said Mr Moore, who married his wife Lilian, 87, in Painswick in 1940.

"The medals meant a lot because my dad was killed in the war when I was only eight months old. Those are things that can't replaced," said the former stonemason, who helped build Nailsworth's clocktower.

The couple's daughter, Barbara Bond, who lives in the village, said her parents have since been scared to answer the phone or door, despite having a new security lock fitted.

And she believes the shock has caused their health to fail.

"They have always been such a hard-working couple and I just think this is diabolical," she said. "Now they are penniless."

"They are both very poorly, the doctors are here nearly every day and we have had to get the nurses out in the early hours of the morning.

"Dad has been on antibiotics after he developed bronchitis as a result of this.

"He's still very chesty, his whole body has gone wrong.

"It's terrible that they don't even feel safe in their own home."

Police are seeking information about two men, one of whom is described as 6ft 6ins tall and gangly, while the other is thought to be white, in his mid 20s and around 5ft 8ins with a heavy build.

They were both wearing fluorescent jackets and blue trousers.

Matt Ford, spokesman for Stroud police, said: "Our advice is that if anybody comes knocking at the door offering services or selling anything then turn them away.

"If people come to your door check their ID and if you're not sure give the company they claim to represent a call."

If you can help police inquiries call 0845 090 1234.