A pensioner has described how he and his wife were conned out of £2,500 when they allegedly fell victim to an elaborate fraud staged by men posing as police and bankers.

Prosecutors say at least 16 Hull pensioners were fleeced out of their life savings in the alleged scam.

Abu Kaher, of Camden Gardens, Camden, London, and Syed Rashid, of West Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex, both 25, are on trial at Hull Crown Court and both deny conspiracy to defraud.

Eight other men have admitted being part of the conspiracy - Tanvir Ahmed, 26, of Birmingham, and Londoners Mohammed Miah, 25, Ali Nuruddin, 25, Junid Patwary, 24, Mizan Ali, 21, Amanul Islam, 25, Ruhin Khan, 24, and Abdul Ali, 25.

In a statement read by junior prosecuting counsel, Richard Holland, the court heard a man from Hedon explain how he and his wife were duped into withdrawing £2,500 from their joint Lloyds account, which he then handed in an envelope to a man he had never met before.

He said it began with a telephone call to his landline from a withheld number on June 2 last year.

He quickly hung up on hearing a male voice as he only accepted calls from withheld numbers from two females he knew.

The man said the phone rang again "almost immediately", and the same voice told him: "I maybe didn't make myself clear the first time - I'm a policeman." The caller said he was from Paddington police station and his call followed the arrest of a member of staff at Lloyds in Hedon.

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The caller said £2,000 had been withdrawn from the couple's account, replaced by a forged note, and police required "a sample of notes" from their account to check for fingerprints.

He then asked the pensioner to call the number on the back of his bank card so he could confirm the transaction had taken place.

A different male answered, did not ask for any security information, or for his sort code or account number, but said he had "just received an email from the police officer I had just been speaking to".

He said money had been taken from the account two days earlier, and after a few "beeps" the original caller came back on the line.

The "policeman" then asked if the man would "co-operate" and withdraw £2,500 so it could be checked for fingerprints.

"Because I had spoken to someone I believed to be from my bank I was more than happy to assist," the man said.

He was asked for his mobile number, and after withdrawing the money was told to put it in an envelope so his fingerprints would not be on it. He was then told two police officers would be "in the area for our safety".

After confirming what they would be wearing, the couple then set off on the five-minute walk to their branch. On the way, two males approached from behind and walked past them, and the man felt "reassured and everything was in order because I felt they must be the two police officers we had been told about".

Returning home with the envelope of cash, he was told a police officer would meet him outside to collect it after giving him a "password", which he could not remember by the time of his statement, but was either 4411 or 1144.

He was told he would get £2,939 as a "reward", but never saw or heard of any the men involved again, and reported what happened to police.

Opening the case earlier, prosecutor Nicholas De La Poer told the jury: "The reason the fraud works is because those targeted are picked because they are from a generation that is public-spirited."

The trial continues.