Police in Gloucester are urging shoppers to be vigilant with their bankcards and when using cash machines following distraction thefts in the city.

Offenders have been using a variety of methods to distract their victims in order to steal bankcards or money.

On Tuesday February 23, an 81-year-old woman had her bankcard stolen from her car while in the car park of Tesco at Quedgeley.

The victim had just put her shopping into the boot of her car and her handbag into the passenger foot well when she was approached by a young woman with a French accent who asked for directions to Portsmouth.

Having showed her the way on a map, the victim returned to her car to discover the card missing.

On Friday February 26, a 79-year-old woman had a large amount of cash stolen from her handbag while shopping in Marks and Spencer in Northgate Street.

Having withdrawn the cash at Barclays Bank she was followed by two women to Meeks shoe shop and then to Marks and Spencer.

One of the women approached the victim and engaged her in a conversation about clothes sizes claiming that she wanted to buy something for her grandmother.

After the suspect had left, the victim realised the envelope containing the money had been taken from her bag.

On Saturday February 27, a 70-year-old woman had her bankcard stolen from her purse while in the car park of Asda in Metz Way.

She was approached by a woman in the car park who gave the victim a £10 note saying that she had seen her drop it.

The suspect then asked for change for a pound coin so that she could use the pay phone and dropped the coin into the victim’s purse.

After the suspect had walked away, the victim realised that three of her bankcards were missing.

Acting Detective Inspector Rob Harding, from the Forest and Gloucester Intelligence Unit, said: “I would urge everyone to remain vigilant when they are out shopping and to always be aware of their surroundings and belongings.”