CAr park card thefts

Please be aware of the following incident that occurred at Sainsbury's in Nantwich at 13:00 on 16/03/2011:

A female was approached whilst on the supermarket car park by a male believed to be Eastern European. The male asked the lady for directions and while she was distracted cash and credit cards were stolen from her handbag inside her vehicle. The cards were subsequently used to withdraw money from her account.

Please be aware of this and be cautious and vigilant if approached by anyone, particularly at supermarkets. If anyone approaches asking for assistance of any kind be mindful where your handbag is at all times and keep it close to you, with the zip at the front of you so you can be sure that no one can gain access to the bag without you noticing. Equally, for any men, refrain from carrying your wallets in easy to access places such as in your back pocket - keep it in a zipped pocket on your jacket and again if approached be aware of where it is at all times. Be reluctant to remove your purse or wallet to give out small change to anyone who has a sob story - in reality if they had a major issue at a supermarket / shopping premises they could go in an gain assistance from the store staff. This is a way of bringing someone's wallet and purse to an easy point of access as often whilst chatting you may not put it away as securely or pop it in your pocket/on the car seat where it is more accessible.

As well as this incident, there have been a couple of other reports over the East of Cheshire where people have been distracted in similar circumstances:

At Waitrose (09/03/2011) in Sandbach, a lady was distracted by a smartly dressed, attractive female, 5ft 2",shoulder length, dark hair asking for some change stating that her car had broken down. She later realised that her purse was missing and managed to stop her cards.

At Sainsbury's in Wilmslow (16/03/2011) a lady was distracted on the car park by two females believed to be Eastern European. The lady later found bank cards missing which had been used to purchase goods in retail stores.

If anyone witnesses any suspicious or out of the ordinary behaviour please contact the police asap with as much information as possible via 0845 458 0000.