THE Alzheimer's Society has revealed people with dementia in Surrey are being cheated out of up to £2m per year.

The charity estimates that more than 2,000 people with dementia in the county – some 15 per cent of the total number of sufferers in Surrey – have been victims of financial abuse such as cold calling, scam mail, or mis-selling.

The Office of Fair Trading estimates that, on average, people who are scammed lose £850.

Based on these figures in Waverley alone – where there are an estimated 1,851 sufferers – around 278 are likely to be being scammed to the tune of £236,300.

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.