Cruel thieves scammed a disabled pensioner in her own home - then stole one of the last gifts her late husband bought for her.
Two strangers asked 88-year-old Margaret Nickel if she wanted her paving jet-washed.
She agreed for a fee of £130.
However, the con artists only finished half the job before snatching her cash and fleeing - and they also took a valuable antique doll on their way out.
Northumbria Police are investigating the incident, which has left Margaret - who requires a wheelchair - feeling "terrible".
"I feel they took advantage of me," said Margaret, who has lived in North Shields her entire life.
"I have felt really terrible getting done like that, just letting them take the money and the doll and without them even finishing the job."
Brave Margaret has decided to go public in order to warn others - and to also try and track the pair down.
Police say the pair were both white, with Irish accents, and were travelling in a white van when they struck last month.
"I got this chap around and he was doing jet washing and he said he would do it at the front and back for £160. I said I only had £130, and he agreed - he did the front, knocked on the door and I said 'that's a good job'," she said.
"But by then he was standing in my passage doorway and I had this big collector item doll, and I asked if he knew anyone who would want it? He said 'I'll have it and he dived in the room, picked it off the bed and went in the car.
"I thought they would come back, but they never did. They took the doll and the money and just drove away."
When she realised what had happened, Margaret - who also has a heart condition and is housebound - claimed she was in shock.
And they also took the doll, which she claimed had enormous sentimental value as her beloved husband Raymond had bought it for her.
"My husband bought it for me just before he died, and he paid £129 for it, and that was about 21 years ago," she added.
Now she wants the culprits brought to justice.
"I would like to find them and name and shame them for what they've done," she added.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm we are investigating a report of a theft at an address on Brinkburn Court in North Shields. It was reported that two men with Irish accents had offered to carry out cleaning work at the property on May 14.
"They had taken payment to jet-wash paving stones at the front and back of the property but only cleaned half of the agreed area. The female occupant of the address has also asked the men if they could help sell a collectable doll but they have taken the doll and left without offering any payment for the item.
"Enquiries are ongoing to identify the men involved and established the exact circumstances around the incident. The men are described as white, with Irish accents, with one aged in his 30s and the other in his 50s who were travelling in a white van.
"Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to report it on our website quoting log 277 14/05/21.”
