A thief was pursued out of Petts Wood Boots today (May 21) before throwing a bunch of nappies back at shop staff.

While browsing in the Queensway store in the afternoon, Olivia Hussey, 35, saw the suspect flee carrying a big bundle of the baby product.

Shouting to the store manager as alarm bells rang, the Clark’s supervisor gave chase in the hope of retrieving them.

She told News Shopper: “I was looking at some hair dye. I looked up I saw him (thief) leg it out the store.

“I shouted to Lynn (manager) and ran out after him. I chased him down the road. He was running towards Orpington.

“I didn’t think about it, I just ran. We all help each other out as it happens a lot here.

“He was getting into his car and I said ‘I’m going to take a picture’ – he threw the nappies back.

“He said, ‘sorry, I’m broke’.”

Boots’ Lynn Wilson, 64, had soon arrived and managed to get a good look of the car, which she noted as a silver Peugeot 407.

Having been in charge of the Petts Wood branch for seven years, she mentioned thefts are a daily occurrence and added “annoyed is not the word”.

She said: “When I heard the commotion I chased out and saw him get into his car and we took a photo.

“I said, ‘I’m calling the police’ and he threw the nappies back at us. He was quite a big bloke, maybe about 6’1.

“It’s happening a lot. It’s good we all help each other out but they just come in and take – things go missing.”

She has reported the incident, which occurred at around 1.30pm on Wednesday May 21, to the police.