THE spirit of Christmas was found wanting last Friday, 30th November, following a spate of purse snatches. Gwent Police are currently investigating three thefts which took place between 10.30am and midday that morning.

At 11.30am police received reports of a purse theft at Starbucks at Raglan North Services which took place an hour earlier. The victim’s purse was stolen from a table top, containing cash, pictures and bank cards.

At 12.15pm, they received reports of a second purse theft in CardZone in Monmouth town centre, which took place at approximately 11.30am. An elderly woman had her red purse stolen following a withdrawal of cash from a bank ATM.

She had described how a woman had been standing behind her at the time of the withdrawals.

An amount of cash and bank cards were inside the purse, but the purse had sentimental value to its owner.

At 2pm, a third theft was reported to have taken place at around 11.45am in Edinburgh Woollen Mill, when another elderly woman’s navy purse was stolen.

Initial CCTV scrutiny has not shown any suspicious activity.

Anyone with information about these thefts can contact Gwent Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Quote crime log 144 of 30/11/18 for the Starbucks theft, log 171 of 30/11/18 for the CardZone theft, or log 245 of 30/11/18 for the Edinburgh Woollen Mill theft.