POLICE are reiterating warnings to members of the public not to be conned into handing over money to people with hard luck stories after further incidents.

Officers were contacted by a Redditch resident on Sunday, February 3, who said he had given a man £10 after he said his credit card had broken. In exchange he was given a virtually worthless ring.

The incident happened at around 2pm near McDonalds in Clews Road.

The man was in a silver Mercedes with foreign number plates.

There were also reports of a man in a silver Mercedes with a foreign number plate trying to flag down drivers on the A448 at the Slideslow roundabout in Bromsgrove at about 1.40pm on the same day.

The incidents are believed to be linked to reports of people, speaking with Eastern European accents, conning drivers on the M5 and M42 near Bromsgrove into giving them money by saying they have run out of fuel or have flat tyres. The people offered jewellery in exchange for cash, and agreed to pay the money back.

However the jewellery in such cases usually turns out to be fake, and contact details given on business cards are false, leaving the good samaritans out of pocket.

Three Romanian men, with addresses in the West Midlands, were arrested in a white Opal Cavalier on the M5 on Saturday, January 26, on suspicion of fraud.

PC Tony Humphreys of West Mercia Police said: "We are urging people to be vigilant and not to fall for hard luck stories.

"These conmen take advantage of other people's good natures and willingness to help but we advise them not to part with any money if they are approached in this manner.

"The police can be contacted on our non-emergency number 101, and will then carry out some checks and assist if there is a genuine problem."

Detective Sergeant Simon Kirman from the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) added there had been reports of similar incidents as far away as Surrey, and motorway police were on the lookout for suspect vehicles.