POLICE have charged a man following a probe into an incident where a Bournemouth couple in their 70s were reportedly scammed out of a "significant" amount of money.

It was reported that the couple were targeted by fraudsters through a series of courier and banking scams after first being contact by a man claiming to be from the Metropolitan Police in August 2019.

He allegedly claimed that they had arrested a man who was found to be in possession of their bank cards and provided them with details of an account where they could put their money so it would be safe.

The couple were reportedly persuaded to hand over a large amount of money across a number of transactions and through various means before they subsequently established that the man they had been in contact with was not a Metropolitan Police officer.

Following a detailed investigation by detectives from Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), with support from City of London Police, a series of warrants were executed at addresses in the Ilford area of London on Monday 3 February 2020.

A 39-year-old man was arrested and has now been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and money laundering and is due to appear before Poole Magistrates' Court on Monday 10 February 2020.

The 50-year-old man who was also arrested on suspicion of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation remains released under investigation while enquiries continue.