A woman had her car broken into and a handbag stolen while she laid flowers in the grounds of Charing Crematorium.

Now police are warning motorists to beware of opportunist thieves.

The woman’s car boot was broken into on Saturday afternoon and a handbag left there was stolen during the 30 minutes she spent inside the crematorium laying flowers.

In another incident last week, offenders smashed the rear window of a vehicle parked in a New Street pub car park in Ashford and stole a handbag left on the rear seat.

The bag was later recovered but an iPod and other personal effects were missing.

Sgt Jeff Lawrence said: “Never leave anything in a car which may tempt an opportunistic thief to break in and steal it.

“If a vehicle has nothing worth stealing inside, the chances are that a thief will move on to a more obvious target.”