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Two brazen thieves, including one wearing a plastic bag on his head, shamelessly snatched a parcel from a doorstep in broad daylight.
The incident caught on CCTV in Minster Road, Westgate-on-Sea, has left the victim's children feeling "threatened" after she told them what had happened.
Parcel theft caught on CCTV in Westgate
Sarah Baptiste, 43, had stayed at home as she was expecting a package of H&M clothing - valued at about £100 - to be delivered.
But when the Hermes courier dropped off the parcel at 1.55pm on Monday he did not knock on Ms Baptiste's door and left it in plain sight on her doorstep.
Then two thieves - a man and a woman - strolled up to the house, swiped the parcel and walked away at 3.06pm.
Ms Baptiste only realised her parcel had been delivered when she received a confirmation email from Hermes and checked her CCTV.
She was left in complete shock when she watched what had happened.
A spokesperson for Hermes has since admitted the courier made a "genuine mistake" and has apologised.
Ms Baptiste, who works at a school, said: "We have lived here for a couple of years now and nothing like this has happened before as it’s a nice area.
"I had my heart in my mouth that anything like this could happen.
"The fact I have got CCTV should put people off but there were two people who quite blatantly walked up to my door in the middle of the day."
'It really scared my children and it makes them feel threatened...'
But Ms Baptiste is also frustrated at how the Hermes courier delivered the parcel which left it prone to theft.
"Whenever they deliver, it’s usually left in a safe place," she said.
"I’ve never had it left in plain sight on the doorstep. On the CCTV, it shows the guy didn’t attempt to knock."
She is also concerned about why the CCTV failed to deter the thieves and said the incident has impacted her family.
"It really scared my children and it makes them feel threatened," she said.
"We moved from London some years ago and you expect this to happen there, but you don’t around here.
"It does make you look around when you leave the house to see who is around.
"My children walk home from school by themselves from time to time, but it does make me think twice about that now."
A spokesperson for Hermes has since issued a statement following the incident.
"We have been in touch to apologise and offer Ms Baptiste a goodwill payment in addition to the full refund she has already received from H&M," they said.
"Our couriers are working hard to provide contactless deliveries during these difficult times and we believe this to be a genuine mistake. We thank everyone for their understanding and patience."
Police have also launched an appeal for information following the theft.
The theft was reportedly carried out by a man in black tracksuit and a woman in a cream-colour sweatshirt.
Anyone who has any information or who saw anything suspicious in the area is asked to contact police on 01843 222289, quoting reference 46/29847/21 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or by visiting crimestoppers-uk.org
To get the latest updates in ongoing cases, police appeals and criminals put behind bars, click here
