A woman leapt into action when a thief grabbed her handbag as she did her weekly shop.

Mel Peters, 25, says she was forced to race after the bag snatcher and make a citizen's arrest when staff in the store did nothing to help. With the aid of her flatmate and a friend, the trio of women confronted the thief and stopped her from leaving the Tesco supermarket in Burgess Hill.

Miss Peters, a business sales executive, said: "My bag was hanging on the back of my trolley and I'd just stopped to talk to a friend. The next thing I knew she was racing past me yelling 'that woman's just stolen your bag."

"I'd just drawn £200 out of the bank for the weekend which was in the bag, along with my credit cards and other personal stuff."

The woman denied she had the bag but when Miss Peters's friend called her mobile phone it started ringing in a nearby trolley.

Miss Peters said: "A member of staff finally came over and told me to calm down and then we were told to stay with her because there was another incident going on elsewhere.

"Finally another member of staff sat with the woman while we went and had a drink in the canteen because by that time I was really upset by it all. The police arrived and arrested her and that was it. We just left without another word being said to us."

Miss Peters later telephoned the store's manager to complain about her treatment. She said: "I just want an apology for the way I was treated and I won't be going back to Tesco until I get one."

Tesco spokeswoman Karen Marshall said: "When an incident like this happens we do appreciate that it's extremely distressing and we will do everything we can to help.

"In this case the customer called for help but the management were suspicious that something else was going on so they weighed up the situation before moving in. Staff had moved into position near the exits to prevent anyone from leaving thestore. While the customer thought no one was helping her, staff were watching and were in control of the situation."

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