A FARNHAM pensioner fleeced out of £200,000 over 56 years by callous con artists, including phoney clairvoyants, has been described as "the worst case" that Surrey Trading Standards has ever come across.

Thanks to an article published in The Herald in which trading standards appealed for victims to contact them, Sylvia Kneller, 76, has at last beaten her addiction to sending off money in reply to letters promising her good health, bogus prizes or foreign lottery wins.

Trading Standards has estimated the incredible total she has lost, basing its figure on the evidence that she routinely sent off cheques and postal orders for £20 or £30 to foreign addresses, three or more times a week.

The retired cook and cleaner, who now admits she has been "a soft touch".

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.