Thieves targeted two shoppers at a Shropshire supermarket, stealing their purses from their trolleys.

The incidents happened while two women, one in her 70s, were at Tesco in Ludlow, police said.

Hazel Millichip, 77, of Ludlow, had popped into the store for her weekly shop on Thursday lunchtime.

Her daughter, Annette Coombes, said Mrs Millichip was looking at some kitchenware and turned her back on her trolley for just a second.

When she turned round again her handbag was on the floor and the purse, which contained about £100 cash, had been emptied.

Mrs Coombes said her mother, who was “shocked and shaking” was taken to sit down and she found another woman who had the same experience a few minutes before.

Mrs Millichip said while the Tesco staff were helpful, there wasn’t any CCTV footage of the incident.

The other woman had several hundred pounds that she had taken out of the cashpoint stolen.

Mrs Millichip said she is keen to warn other shoppers to keep a close eye on their purses and handbags.

Inspector John O’Leary confirmed that there had been an incident at Tesco Ludlow where two women had their purses stolen from their trolleys.

He has appealed to people to be mindful of their bags and purses while shopping.

A spokesperson from Tesco said they take all security measures seriously but unfortunately there are rare incidents that are not covered by CCTV.

The spokesperson said: “We do all we can to help customers at times like these.”