The 77-year-old 'victim of a supermarket distraction theft' in Reading has spoken of the ‘trauma’ she went through.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, lost £500 and offenders attempted to take another £1,000 after stealing her purse, she said.

She has no idea how the thieves knew her PIN number, and fears they may have tailed her around the Tesco in Napier Road.

“I have lost all my cards including my driving licence with my address on and it has been very traumatic to get everything reissued to say nothing of the trauma I have been through myself,” said the woman.

READ MORE: New dad to run London Marathon for Parents And Children Together

After packing her shopping into her car outside at the store on September 1, the woman walked 10 feet to the trolley park to retrieve her £1 coin.

She found a man ‘behaving very strangely’ by her trolley and black tape over the release lever at around 10.30am, according to the woman.

Following a conversation with the man about her £1 and where he could find the nearest vets, the woman returned to find her car door open.

READ MORE: Taxi driver sued for over £200k as horror crash leaves woman in coma

It was not until she used the nearby Tesco petrol station that she found her purse was missing from her bag, she said.

“How did they get my PIN? They were very good at distracting me while they committed the theft. 

"I must have been followed round the store and watched as I entered my PIN at the till or they could have taken a Mobile Phone Slow Motion Video of my number as I put it into the machine,” the woman said.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “The investigation has been filed pending further information coming to light.

“Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101 or making a report online, quoting reference 43220393232.”

We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.

Please report any comments that break our rules.

Commments are closed on this article

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here

© 2001-2022. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. A Gannett Company. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. HP10 9TY. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |

Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event.

As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.