A BRAZEN fraudster stole £14,000 after taking someone else's mail from a sorting office and applying for new bank cards.

The man went to the sorting office in Lydney at the beginning of October and, claiming to be his 54-year-old victim, asked for his letters to be held.

At the end of the month the fraudster returned to the sorting office and used what was thought to be a fake driving licence to claim the post that had been kept by.

Once the victim's details were obtained and new bank cards ordered, the cards were then collected from the sorting office and used to spend around £14,000 from his account. The bank has since refunded the victim's money.

Police have now released an image of the man described by postal staff at the Ward Industrial Estate sorting office in the hope of tracking him down.

Officers are linking the case to three other similar reports in as many months in the Forest.

They included one in which a man attempted to pick up someone else's post at Coleford Post Office and one in which a man tried to have post held at Lydney sorting office because of "a dangerous dog".

On both occasions vigilant staff refused the man involved.