A GOOD Samaritan was conned by a man who claimed he needed cash to get home.

The hunt for the conman was launched following an incident in Hove last week.

The victim handed over £80 to the trickster who had been asking members of the public for the money in order to board a train to Eastbourne to retrieve a spare key for his house.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said the suspect is aged between 35-40, of Middle Eastern appearance, about 5" 7', with short greying receding hair, wearing jeans and a blue check shirt.

The first incident was reported to police on Wednesday but they believe the man was active in Denmark Villas, Stirling Place and Norton Road from the previous weekend.

The man has provided a false address and mobile number as a reference to his victims and claims he will return the money by a certain time or date.

However the cash he has 'borrowed' from the victim is yet to be returned.

Anyone who is approached by someone who fits the description, should not to hand over any cash but dial 999.

Anyone with information about the man or who may have been a victim themselves, should contact Sussex Police using the eform at: sussex.police.uk/appealresponse quoting serial 492 of July 19.