FYLDE bank staff are on full alert after two women escaped with £900 in cash using a fake credit card and ID.

The women - who are of foreign appearance with non-UK accents - approached staff in two separate incidents at the Lloyds TSB bank, Clifton Drive South, Lytham, on Monday, September 20.

The first offender managed to withdraw the money using a counterfeit Egg credit card and bogus driving licence registered to an address in Greater Manchester at around 12.55pm.

Staff became suspicious when - 15 minutes later - the second offender entered the same bank and tried to make a cash withdrawal of £850 using a counterfeit Morgan Stanley Visa card.

She offered similar identification registered to an address on Merseyside but made her escape before senior staff could question her further.

Blackpool police say the forged cards and documents are of "excellent" quality and have launched a full-scale investigation amid concerns the incident may be part of a nationwide "professional" credit card scam.

They are now liaising with credit providers and other UK police forces to see if any similar suspicious withdrawals have been made across the country. A Blackpool police spokesman said: "These cards were of excellent quality and it is extremely difficult to tell them apart from the real thing.

"There's obviously been a lot of organisation and cash involved in setting up this scam and it's highly likely that we're looking at larger 'professional' gang of perpetrators.

"We would urge all bank staff to be wary of similar large cash withdrawals and to contact us immediately.

"Similarly we're not sure whether the two women have tried to use the cards in shops around the same time of the incident.

"But we are not ruling anything out at this stage and would also warn shops and other retailers to be vigilant."

Both women were described as very attractive with "model looks" in their late teens to early 20s. The first offender was of slim build, wearing a dark tailored jacket, dark blue jeans, a red T-shirt top with a distinctive Ted Baker designer belt.

She had long fair hair which was worn down.

The second offender was slightly bigger built, wearing a light-coloured tailored jacket, with lighter blue jeans, trainers and carrying a small, black hand-held bag. She had dark hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

Anyone with any information is asked to ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or Blackpool police on 293933 quoting crime reference AL4242 (first offender) or AL4240 (second offender).