POLICE hope that a distinctive mark on a £20 note will lead to thieves who held an 81-year-old woman in her home for more than an hour while they ransacked the premises.

The robbery occurred some time between 6.30pm and 7pm on Saturday March 19 at an address in Bromsgrove Street, Barbourne, Worcester, when the woman answered a knock at her back door, thinking that it was her nephew.

But instead, as the Worcester News reported on Tuesday, it was a man and a youth who stole £80 and rifled through her belongings while, trapped inside her home, the pensioner watched helplessly.

Disgusted neighbours branded the pair "cowards" who deserve to be "horsewhipped."

Police hope the latest clue will help them to catch those responsible.

"One of the £20 notes taken in the incident had a distinctive, large figure "4" written in purple/dark ink in the top fight-hand of the front," said a spokesman for South Worcestershire CID.

"We believe that because of the size and colour of the mark anyone who saw it will remember it - and may have even commented on it.

"If they do, we want to hear from them how they came into contact with it and if they can describe the person who had it originally."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 08457 444888, quoting incident number 775S/190305.