A FRAUD accused pair went on a thieving spree spanning three months and left a trail of vulnerable victims in Largs and Inverclyde in their wake, it is alleged.

Stephen Gill and Cheri Steele are facing a catalogue of 24 charges, including claims they stole from residents at sheltered housing complexes.

Gill, 52, and Steele, 31, are said to have committed seven of the alleged crimes in a single day — allegedly racking up several hundred pounds worth of fraudulent transactions.

They targeted a woman's handbag at Homemount House retirement housing in Largs before using her bank card to fund a shopping trip to Greenock, it is claimed.

The Crown says the pair initially used the card to steal £200 from an ATM on Main Street in Largs and then again to obtain nearly £30 worth of goods from the nearby Semichem shop.

Gill — who is remanded in custody — and Steele then targeted JD Sports, another ATM, the American Candy store and Greggs in Greenock's Oak Mall shopping centre, it is alleged.

Prosecutors say they helped themselves to a further £50 of the woman's money before fraudulently obtaining around £100 worth of goods from the various shops — including £9.80 of food at Greggs.

The pair are said to have committed all of these alleged crimes on August 20 last year.

They are also charged with twice raiding houses at Holmwood in Largs and stealing a wallet, bank cards, a lamp and an artificial tree between September 1 and 5.

Gill and Steele are accused of stealing a plant pot, an imitation tree and a table from a property at the town's Kirklands between September 1 and 3.

It is alleged they later used a man's stolen bank card to fraudulently obtain £19 worth of goods at the Tesco Express on Largs' Aitken Road.

Gill is accused of using the stolen bank card of a second man for a £370 spending spree at JD Sports on Greenock on September 24.

He and Steele, of Arran Avenue, Port Glasgow, allegedly stole a handbag, a purse and £50 cash from a house on Elphinstone Mews, Kilmacolm, three days later.

They then used the stolen bank card of a woman to twice obtain goods valued at around £20 from the Co-op on the village's Lochwinnoch Road on September 28.

Prosecutors say they used the same card on the same day to fraudulently take £25 worth of products at the Premier convenience store on Ingliston Street, Greenock.

The accused pair then twice went to a Keystore in Paisley on September 29 and helped themselves to a total of £84 worth of items, it is alleged.

They are further charged with targeting the Glebe Court sheltered housing complex in Kilmacolm on October 2 and stealing a handbag, a purse, a bank card, a photograph, lipstick, a comb, a mirror and a set of keys.

The Crown says Gill and Steele used another woman's bank card to steal £130 from an ATM on Lochwinnoch Road on the same day.

They are both said to have been found within the curtilage of two properties on Monkton Place, Greenock, on October 20 without lawful authority so that in all circumstances it may be reasonably inferred they intended to commit theft.

The total value of the alleged thefts and defrauding of five people comes to around £1,000.

Gill and Steele have pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against them through lawyers Amy Spencer and Edward Sweeney at Greenock Sheriff Court.

The case is due to call again on April 19.