POLICE are warning shoppers in Bishop's Stortford to be extra vigilant following a spate of bag snatches at supermarkets.

A 65-year-old Little Hallingbury woman had her handbag stolen when she was approached by a foreign woman at the Waitrose store in Northgate End between 10.05am and 10.20am on Thursday. While the victim was distracted another woman snatched the bag from her trolley.

One woman was of Eastern European origin, possibly Turkish, and spoke poor English. She had a ruddy complexion, black eyebrows and dark, curly, shoulder-length hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing black rimmed, oval-shaped glasses and a black woollen coat.

A 64-year-old Bishop's Stortford woman had her bag stolen between 11am and 11.15am the same day as she shopped at the Sainsbury supermarket in South Street.

And a woman had her bag snatched by a woman, of Asian appearance, at the Waitrose store on Saturday. The thief was about 5ft 4ins tall, slim with dark hair piled on top of her head. She wore a black coat.

Any information to Bishop's Stortford police station on 01279 508908.

January 29, 2003 09:00