Elderly people attending mass have been warned by gardaí to be wary of burglars posing as council workers to gain access to their homes.

In an inventive move, gardaí asked parish priests in many parts of Dublin city centre if they could address congregations to warn them about criminals posing as council officials targeting elderly people's homes and stealing valuables and cash. Gardaí decided to take this action as much of the mass-going congregation is comprised of older people.

As well as churches, including Polish chaplaincies, community gardaí have also issued the same warning to worshippers attending mosques.

"We advised people not to allow anyone into their homes if they are in anyway suspicious of them," said a source. "We managed to reach out to a huge number of people through churches; it's been very effective. We advised people to call us immediately if they felt suspicious about someone. That's been happening and we believe some robberies have been averted as a result."

Criminals have also claimed to be charity workers to gain access to people's homes and some have even pretended to be TV licence inspectors.