Two con artists abandoned a pensioner in the countryside in his slippers as they motored off with a car he was selling.

Grandad Eric Truby, 70, had taken the pair out on a test drive of his son's £4,600 Toyota Landcruiser 4x4, but they fled with the vehicle after asking him to get out to check a noise coming from the rear.

Last night Mr Truby, who has a heart condition and wears a pacemaker, said: "My feet had hardly touched the floor when they shot off like a bat out of hell with the door swinging in the wind.

"They left me there in my slippers with no money and no mobile phone. I had to flag down a passing car.

"Luckily someone stopped and it wasn't long before I was back with my wife, who immediately reported it to the police. The whole thing gave me a terrible shock."

Mr Truby's wife Rita, 68, said the couple knocked at their door in Yarnton after seeing the metallic green Toyota, registration number P208 KOO, for sale outside.

She said: "Our son Dean lives in Devon but he thought outside our house would be a good spot to sell the car because there is a lot of passing trade on the A44.

"When the couple called they were so nice and polite. When they asked Eric if they could go for a test drive we thought it would be all right.

"It all seemed very plausible.

"I took the woman's mobile number, and when I thought they had been gone for too long I tried the number and it was discontinued. Then I started to panic.

"They were just confidence tricksters and we don't want this to happen to anyone else in Oxfordshire.

"When we told Dean what had happened he said 'Don't worry about it, the important thing is that you are fine' and sent us a big bunch of flowers."

Mr Truby added: "Before we set off, the couple agreed that we would just go a short distance, along Rutten Lane, but then they started going further, and when I asked them where we were going they said they wanted to test the car on a main road, so I thought 'fair enough'.

"But after a while I thought there might be something wrong, and when they stopped on the Islip road, just past the bridge that goes over the A34, I was really worried.

"When they asked me to get out of the car, I slid on to the ground in my slippers, and wham - off they went.

"I had a feeling they were going to take the car, but there was nothing I could do about it."

Mrs Truby said the man was about 40, with light grey hair, containing streaks of darker grey, and was wearing a polo shirt, possibly with a stripe in. His female accomplice was slightly younger, with blond hair and protruding teeth. She wore a white top, white three-quarter length jeans and was carrying a grey blue crescent-shaped handbag.

Oxford police spokesman Kate Smith said: "This couple took advantage of the gentleman's trust, and not only stole his car but left him miles from his home. These are extremely callous people to leave a man of his age stranded."

Anyone with information can call police on 08458 505505.