An elderly woman has had a large amount of cash stolen from her bank account after she was duped by a thief.

The woman, in her 70s, was queuing at the tills of Sainsbury’s supermarket in Wingfield Bank, Pepperhill, Northfleet, when she noticed a man close behind her. The lady used her debit card to pay for the shopping and quickly left the store.

As she was crossing the car park, the man approached her and said that the cashier believed the woman had dropped a £10 note when she paid. Posing as a Good Samaritan, he said he was returning it to her.

The victim opened her purse to check the contents and the man took it from her, placed a £10 note in to the purse and handed it back.

A short while later, as she was leaving the car park, the woman checked her purse and realised her debit card was missing.

She immediately contacted her bank but was told a large amount of cash had already been withdrawn – just a few moments earlier – from a nearby cashpoint.

Sergeant Karen Radford said: "This appears to be a well planned and organised theft involving a number of different people. Both men and women are believed to be involved.

"Once the card has been stolen, usually by distracting the victim and using a cover story to gain access to the purse, it is used very quickly at a nearby cash machine, before the victim can report the card as stolen."

The suspect in this incident is described as a man, aged between 18-25, approximately 5ft 4ins, possibly Eastern European and is believed to have been wearing a black hat, black jacket and dark coloured trousers.

The theft took place on Thursday, December 15 at about 1pm but it wasn’t the first.

A similar incident occurred on Thursday, December 8 in the car par of a supermarket on Station Road, Longfield.

Again, an elderly customer was approached in the car park by a man who claimed that the victim had dropped a £10 note. The victim did not accept the money but soon discovered that his debit card was missing and despite cancelling it swiftly, more than £700 had already been withdrawn.

Now Kent Police are urging shoppers to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious in supermarkets across the area.

Sgt Radford added: "Our advice is to ensure that you protect your pin number at all times, remain vigilant and try to avoid your valuables being accessible to other people.

"If you are aware of any suspicious activity or you have any information in relation to this theft then contact Kent Police immediately."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Kent Police on 101 (the non-emergency equivalent of 999). Alternatively you can call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.