ELDERLY people in Southampton have been warned to be on their guard after a bogus doctor tried to trick his way into a pensioner's home.

Police fear the man could strike again after he targeted an 82-year-old woman in Sholing and offered a flu jab.

She slammed the door on him after he reached into his bag and pulled out a syringe.

Subsequent checks by officers found that no known GPs were in the area at the time of the incident.

A Bitterne police spokesman said: "When the man went to the house, the elderly female immediately refused and closed the door which was the correct course of action.

"If older people are approached in their homes by someone offering flu inoculations they should refuse."

He added the incident happened on November 8 but it has taken officers almost two months to check with doctors across Southampton to make sure the caller was bogus.

"The inoculations are usually done at surgeries or by specially arranged appointments and you would not get someone just turning up at your door to do them,'' said the spokesman.

"As far as we know there have been no other similar incidents since then but it is important that people are careful.

"It's very unusual and I've not heard of anything like this before.

"Although there are no reports of it happening again, we are very concerned that something like this has happened at all and we will be continuing inquiries."

The man is described as white, 30-40 years old, having a proportionate build, 5ft 7in, with short dark brown hair and a beard.

Anyone with information should ring the Bitterne police control room on 0845 045 4545.