Police in Wiltshire are warning the public to be on their guard following a series of distraction thefts in supermarket car parks in the area.

In each case the victims were approached by someone asking for a charity donation. When they are engaged in passing money the offender distracts them with a clip board and takes as much money as they can get.

Offences have occurred in Chippenham and Melksham and include the car parks of Sainsburys, and Waitrose.

PC Mark Giles said: “We are asking for people to be on their guard in supermarket car parks and report any suspicious behaviour to us.

"The offenders seem to be targeting vulnerable customers, using disabled bays and then taking advantage of their good nature supporting charities to distract them."

To report anything suspicious please call us on 101, or 999 in an emergency.

If you have a hearing or speech impairment you can use our textphone service on 999 or 18000 if you've pre-registered with the emergency SMS service.

You can also call 999 BSL to use a British Sign Language interpreter: 999 BSL