JENNIFER Wood simply wanted police to investigate the apparent theft of her purse while out shopping in Tesco.

But instead, officers have left her feeling like ‘an old biddy who doesn’t matter’.

Mrs Wood, a 62-year-old grandmother, is angry after police told her they wouldn’t treat it as a crime.

Officers say they took the decision because CCTV footage did not show anyone suspicious near Mrs Wood and she was not aware of being approached.

They have decided that, ‘on the balance of probabilities’, the purse has been lost.

However, it is the police decision that does not stand up to closer examination.

Tesco security staff said Mrs Wood was only caught on CCTV at two points in the 90,000sq ft superstore – meaning there were plenty of other ‘off camera’ opportunities for a thief to strike.

Secondly, you wouldn’t necessarily expect a victim to notice a sneak thief.

If the purse was ‘lost’, how come it wasn’t handed in?

Police seem to have been too quick to dismiss Mrs Wood’s concerns.

Hopefully this case is unusual rather than typical of the way police handle so-called ‘low level crime’.