Watch out for Marlborough purse pinchers (From This Is Wiltshire)

Watch out for Marlborough purse pinchers

7:20am Sunday 5th September 2010 in

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Shoppers in Marlborough are having their purses snatched by thieves without even realising it, thinking they have lost them instead, said PCSO Mark Braithwaite.

The town has an ongoing problem of purses being taken by thieves who are so adept at removing them from shopping bags that the victims have no idea until they go to get their purse to pay for shopping.

PCSO Braithwaite said that last week there had been five cases of purses going missing with some of the victims reporting that they must have accidentally dropped or lost their purses.

It is not only the cash loss that shoppers suffer. They also have all the bother of cancelling and replacing debit and credit cards; obtaining duplicate driving licences and, if their keys were stolen too, the cost of changing locks.

“It is a continuing problem in the town,” said PCSO Braithwaite. “A lot of people do not even realise their purses have been stolen and think they have lost them.”

Police advise shoppers to keep purses or wallets in pockets concealed inside their clothing and not in a shopping bag because the skilled thieves are able to take them even from zipped bags without the victims realising.

Lanyards to secure purses inside of bags to prevent them being snatched easily are available on request from the police station in George Lane.