A CRIME victim has warned shoppers to be vigilant after being followed by a gang and pickpocketed.

Marcia Hurtley said she was left shaken after catching a woman taking her purse from her coat pocket while walking up the escalator at Morrisons in Blackburn town centre.

Mrs Hurtley, from Blackburn, said she had finished shopping and was heading to her car when she felt a woman’s hand grab her purse at around 3.45pm on Sunday, January 20.

Mrs Hurtley said she started screaming at the woman, who panicked and threw her purse back at her before running away with three other people close by.

She said: “It was awful, if I hadn’t felt her hand go in I would have gone home and just thought I’d lost my purse.

“She started running away after I screamed after and a woman next to her, and two men in front of me, also ran away. I reported it to the security at Morrisons and police said they looked at the CCTV footage and it showed a gang of four people had followed me from the tills and up the escalator.

“Thinking about it now it was rather scary, imagine if they’d reacted in a different way.

“I got my purse back, but the cards had been taken out of it.

“I cancelled them straight away.”

The woman who grabbed the purse was described as in her mid-30s to early-40s, with dark skin and long dark hair.

Mrs Hurtley said: “I want to urge everyone to keep their purses or wallets safe on them while they're out and make sure they’re not being followed by anyone.”

A police spokesman said a cash card was missing from the purse.

He said: “The offence has been captured on CCTV and further enquiries are to be made.”

A Morrisons spokesman did not want to comment.