Police giving away free 'purse bells' in Barrow

The warning to shoppers follows a spate of distraction thefts throughout the county, where a group of male suspects appear to be targeting lone older females as they are paying for goods at self-service and supermarket till areas.

PIN numbers are being obtained before the victim is being followed from the shops back to their vehicle, where one suspect is making an approach and using a distraction tactic to allow another to steal the victim’s purse / bank cards.

One victim, a woman from the Kendal area, was targeted recently at a supermarket in the south of the county. She said: “A man told me that I had wires hanging down from the front of my car and that he would help me. I thought it was strange but I’m not the sort of person to tell someone to go away, so I was polite.

“Obviously while I was distracted someone else got my cards and they were then used. They were opportunists – it was very crowded around the tills in the store and I had parked at the end of the car park as I like to walk.

“As Christmas gets closer the shops get busier and I would urge shoppers to really make sure they protect their pin numbers and their property – if you get out of your car to speak to someone, lock it. I’d also advise people to have different pin numbers for different cards, and to only carry around what you need.

“I’m always very careful with my security and I was still caught out. It can happen to anyone.”

Working with South Lakeland and Barrow Community Safety Partnership (CSP), Victim Support and Age UK, officers will also be handing out purse bells at four events across the area. These can be fixed to a purse zip to alert the owner if the purse has been removed from a bag.

The purse bell events will take place:

December 3, 10am – 12pm, Kendal Birdcage 

December 3, 1.30 – 3.30pm, Booths Windermere 

December 17, 10am – 12pm, Ulverston Coronation Hall 

December 17, 1.30 – 3.30pm Barrow Market

They are also available at Kendal and Barrow Police Stations.