A 77-YEAR-OLD woman has been left ‘devastated’ after she was the victim of a distraction theft in a supermarket car park.

Christine Whatmore was packing away her shopping in the boot of her car on March 16, when she was approached by a man who asked for directions to the hospital.

While she was speaking to the man, an accomplice opened the passenger door at the front of the car and took the contents of her purse, which contained priceless family photos of her son, who died aged just six-years-old, while £600 was then taken out from an ATM in two £300 instalments.

Christine’s daughter, Debra Perman, said: “The two people who have done this have essentially got away with this, as we have been told by the store that there is no CCTV of what happened, or that any images inside the store cannot be shown to us due to data protection.

“What these two people must have done is watch my mother enter the car park to know that she is alone, and then followed her to the checkout. Then, they must have seen her enter in her PIN number as she entered it to pay, before following her to the car.

“They managed to get the money out of the ATM in seven minutes nearby, that’s one hell of a turnaround. We don’t even know which ATM that they used.”

Christine only realised what had happened when she got home, and her handbag felt lighter.

The effect on her mother is one of the reasons that Debra is so concerned about what had happened.

Debra added: “My concern is, what level what will they go to next? I’m worried that this will escalate. I feel very passionate about this; my mother is devastated. It has had a terrible effect on her, she is now scared to go alone to supermarkets.”

When contacted for comment, Morrisons confirmed that there is no CCTV system that looks into the car park in the store but did not comment further.

Hampshire Constabulary confirmed it was looking into the matter, and that enquiries are ongoing into the incident. If anyone has any information, they are asked to call 101 with the reference 44180099355.