FOUR suspected distraction burglars are on police bail after eagle-eyed officers spotted men matching witness descriptions calling at an Ellesmere Port home.

Targeted Patrol Team and Special Constabulary officers began searching the area following reports of two men tricking their way into the home of an elderly disabled woman in Thelwell Drive at 4.45pm on May 26.

They made off with a large quantity of cash. A full search failed to uncover any clues but officers continued to keep their eyes peeled long after the initial scour.

Shortly before 7pm their observations paid off and two men matching witness descriptions were spotted calling at a Lindisfarne Avenue home by PC Chris McMullin and Special Con-stable Lucy Armitage.

One man appeared to have his foot in the door as it was being closed.

The men were approached and officers quickly discovered an associate of theirs was waiting nearby in a car.

He was soon traced by fellow TPT officer PC Rob Johnston and all three men were arrested on suspicion of being involved in a burglary.

Checks on police computers revealed one of the men was wanted by Nottinghamshire Police.

And the associate found waiting in the car is currently being dealt with by Cambridgeshire Police for a distraction burglary.

PC McMullin said: 'I think it's important for people to know about these types of jobs because it highlights the fact that we do all we can to catch up with suspects long after we have made initial enquiries into an incident.

'If we know there are people we want to catch up with then we do our utmost to find them. Sometimes it can take a few hours, a full day or even a week before we find the people we want.

'In this case, we spotted people who we suspected of being responsible for offences pretty quickly. A few checks on our systems quickly showed a match in witness descriptions and details from other forces and arrests were made.'

A fourth man, who matched witness descriptions, was also arrested as part of the enquiry after he attended a custody suite enquiring after his friends.

The four men, aged 20, 23, 26 and 21 and all from the Nottingham area, have since been released on police bail. They are due to attend a police station in July.

In the meantime, enquiries will continue by Ellesmere Port Investigation Team officers.