A MUM and daughter were furious after £4,000 in cash was withdrawn from their accounts by thieves. 


Pippa Cooper, 19, and her mother were enjoying a spot of lunch in Pizza Hut in Festival Place, Basingstoke when they both had their debit cards stolen. 


Within a matter of hours the thieves had made several small cash transactions from the local Nationwide branch in Winchester using forged signatures to collect a total of £4,000, and spent a further £500 in contactless payments. 


Miss Cooper, from Henwick Lane, Thatcham, said she hadn’t realised her and her mother's cards were missing until they returned home. 


She said: “There were two women making a bit of a commotion in the restaurant and while one was talking to a member of staff, we believe the other went into my purse and took the cards. 


“We didn’t even realise the cards had gone until we got home, as we sometimes leave them at home if we are only popping out briefly. 


“However, when we checked our bank balances we saw the money had gone and we were in complete shock.”


Now the cards have been cancelled, the pair have been told they won’t get issued new cards until the New Year, meaning they will have gone three weeks without being able to easily access their money. 


Miss Cooper, an office administrator, added: “Thankfully we had done all of our Christmas shopping, but it was my sister’s 18th birthday and my mum had to borrow money to pay for that.


“The bank also offered us £100 in compensation, but again what use is that if I don’t have access to the money? I have £300 to last me until I am issued with a new card.” 


Head of fraud at Nationwide Stuart Skinner said: “While in this case the signatures provided by the criminal in-branch were close enough to make a number of withdrawals, once the customer alerted our fraud team we were able to refund the lost money.” 


Hampshire police said it was investigating the incident, which was reported between 11.50am and 1pm on Thursday December 17. A spokesman said fraud cases are always higher around the festive period.


See actionfraud.police.uk for advice.