An elderly widow has lost more than £30,000, after being duped in a Spanish lottery scam.

Dorothy Farr, who lives off Dunstable Road in Luton, handed over her life savings to a con man after being told she had won the foreign lottery and needed to pay tax to claim her cash.

The 80-year-old received a letter from a Mr Fredo Topman of La Primitva Intl Loteria saying she had won £750,000.

And she had no reason to suspect it to be a fake, as she had entered the Spanish lottery six years before.

The pensioner was asked to send large sums of money to an address in Manchester.

She said: 'First he asked for £4,600. He said it was for the tax on the lottery win. It kept going on from there, more money and more money.'

Again and again Mrs Farr was asked to send cash to cover different costs that the scammers invented before she realised she had been swindled.

Beds Police said it had not heard of this particular scam but it was aware of similar cons and has previously put out warnings in the town.

A force spokeswoman said: 'If you have enquiries at your home relating to lotteries please disregard them and do not give them any money.'