Fraudsters in Southport have targeted elderly homeowners by falsely offering repairs to flue accessories.
In one incident, the criminals forced an old-aged woman from the area to give them £1,000, while another elderly resident was escorted to a cash point to provide them with money, according to SouthPortVistor.co.uk.
Southport north-east neighbourhood inspector, Tony Jones, told the website: "These bogus tradesmen have been calling out of the blue at people's homes claiming that they can see repairs that need doing on their roofs and chimneys."
This news comes after ThisIsKent.co.uk reported that a chimney fire damaged a pub in Kent on December 18th.
A fire chief told the website that weather conditions hampered the rescue, saying: "The water we were using to put out the flames was turning to ice as soon as it hit the ground, making the road conditions even worse."
An alarm alerted the pub's landlord to the fire, which was travelling to the property's roof.