BE on your guard. That is today's message to old folk in South Yorkshire after it was revealed that more than 100 pensioners in the county have been targeted by tricksters in the space of just three months.
It is not clear whether this is a cruel coincidence or the work of a gang who have decided, against every moral judgement imaginable, to pick on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities - old folk who grew up in a more trusting world and
cling to the comfort of those days.
But the methods are so similar - where victims are distracted by men pretending to be workmen, officials, or water authority inspectors - that police are making a special effort to concentrate on problem areas with extra officers hoping to pick up on the trail of the offenders.
Meanwhile, we join officers to urge people to be vigilant and help make the thieves' lives as difficult as possible. This doesn't mean they should batten down the hatches and live in fear: just be sensible when a stranger knocks at your door and have the confidence to send them away until they can return with the correct paperwork.
Nurture principles why UK is popularTHE problem with a speech by Baroness Warsi, the Tory shadow minister for Sheffield, is not in its content but in its location. For speaking to the Conservative Party Conference, as she was, taints her comments with political opportunism.
And that's a pity because we hear in her words a strong message that will strike a welcome chord with the views of many of our readers.
She told her party faithful that 'state-driven multi-culturalism' is playing on the differences of British society rather than forming bridges. And she is right. The British people feel as though they are the only ones expected to make concessions to the wide variety of cultures now making up the UK.
The way to build a truly integrated society is to ask why people come to the UK in the first place and to nurture those principles for all to share.
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FeaturesMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport. The full article contains 406 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
