A thief walked out of Category B Lewes Prison with the belongings of a woman who was visiting an inmate.

The light-fingered crook – whom victim Anthea Constantino believes was a fellow visitor – cleared out a locker at the prison reception.

Ms Constantino says CCTV was inadequate in the area where the theft took place.

The 39-year-old was visiting her partner in the prison on September 7 when she placed her belongings in the locker in a reception area.

She then left the key accidentally on the counter of the canteen area of the visiting hall.

She said that when another woman found it and asked people standing nearby whose it was, another woman claimed it as her own.

Ms Constantino, from Surrey, lost her driving licence, car and house keys, phone, cash and bank cards.

She also lost her passport, which she needed to use as identification to get into the prison.

She said: “Apparently in the locker room the camera didn’t look onto my locker.

“You would have thought in a prison security would be tight.

“The numbers of the lockers are written on the keys and then you find the CCTV isn’t there.

“The sympathy from the prison guards themselves was great, but the security staff didn’t want to know.”

A spokesman for the Prison Service said only: “This is a matter for the police.”

Police are understood to be hopeful that other CCTV footage recorded in the area could help them identify the culprit.

Sussex Police said in a statement: “Police are investigating the theft of a visitor’s belongings from a locker at Lewes Prison on Friday, September 7.

“It is believed that the thief picked up a key to the locker that the victim had left lying on a table while she visited an inmate and used it to access the locker, stealing a bag and the personal items contained in it.

“Police hope to obtain CCTV footage that will enable them to identify the offender.”