A 17-year-old has been charged in connection with the robbery which took place in the Handford Road area last week.

The incident took place between 11pm on Wednesday August 22 and 1am Thursday August 23.

A group of men knocked at the property and the resident – an elderly man - opened the door. The suspects then forced their way into a property, threatened the victim and demanded money from him.

The man told the group he did not have any cash in the house, and after spending up to an hour searching the house, the offenders then walked the elderly victim to a cashpoint at Sainsbury’s on Hadleigh Road to withdraw cash for them.

Officers believe that they were at the cash machine between 12.30am and 12.40am.

They then walked the victim back to his house, leaving at around 1am.

Police believe there were up to seven suspects in total.

A police spokesman said: “The victim was left very shaken by this incident, but was otherwise unharmed.”

Officers arrested a 17-year-old boy from Ipswich during the afternoon of Saturday August 25 in connection with this incident. He was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning and was subsequently charged with robbery.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear before Ipswich Magistrates’ Court today, Monday August 27.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone who was in the area of Handford Road, London Road or Sainsbury’s in Hadleigh Road, between 11pm on Wednesday August 22 and 1am on Thursday August 23 to make contact. This includes anyone driving along those roads who have dash cams fitted in their vehicle.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact South CID on 101 quoting reference 48094/18 or the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.