A PHOTOGRAPHER has raised £1000 for an elderly woman who was conned out of her life savings.

Katrina Dimech who runs Shutter Hire in Dinas Powys decided to set up a fundraising page after hearing how Dilys Jones had lost £43,000 to taxi driver Christopher Owen.

Owen received a three-and-a-half year jail sentence but Ms Jones was left heartbroken by what happened.

But after an online campaign was set up by Miss Dimech to reimburse Ms Jones with some of the money, the photographer has now visited Ms Jones to hand over the funds raised.

Miss Dimech said she was "angered" by the news of the con when she first heard it and wanted to restore Msi Jones' faith in humanity.

Speaking about the moment she handed the money over, Miss Dimech said: "She was so happy and emotional and she gasped when I handed her the tin with the money in it."

"My friends and I have been sharing the page as much as possible and we had £200 before the Penarth Times article came out, after which donations flew in."

She said the biggest single donations came from Romilly Finance and the Cefn Mably pub which both donated £100 to the cause.

Miss Dimech said she wanted to thank every individual and organisation who had contributed to the cause.

She added: "Dilys told us all about what happened and she is still really upset by it but everyone has been really lovely in supporting the cause."

Miss Dimech also spoke of the time when her camera equipment was stolen and how the community rallied around to help her

She said: "Without that support I wouldn't have been able to carry on so I was glad I could do the same thing for someone else.

"We have a really nice community here."