Community rallies to help elderly woman who had purse stolen from Banbury fish and chip shop

A woman in her 70s had her blue handbag, and its entire contents stolen while she sat in the Banbury Fish Bar. The handbag was stolen from the woman between 12.30 and 1pm on Saturday January 4.

The woman's handbag was stolen from underneath the seat, which contained a purse, a Huawei mobile phone, car and house keys, £100 cash, Christmas vouchers and some sentimental items.

By the time woman got to the bank to report it various cards had already been used.

Nick Xiourouppas, the owner of the Banbury Fish Bar in Broad Street, has spoken to police about the matter and given them the CCTV footage of the incident. But he also posted the CCTV footage on social media through a post on Facebook.

Nick said: “Through the power of social media hopefully we'll catch them.”

But Nick didn't stop there he has also offered to re-pay the £100 cash to the woman, who he referred to as a regular customer every Saturday.

Nick added: “We're going to give her £100 back and hopefully she'll get the rest back too. We just try to do our bit to help.”

But the owners of the fish and chip shop are not the only people who have helped the woman.

The daughter of the woman who had her handbag stolen made a post on Facebook about the incident, which included thanking several people for their help.

A woman from the community at the Debenhams in town let the woman had her purse stolen use her personal mobile phone after the incident.

Kelly posted the following comment on Facebook after the incident: “I'm the lady who lent your mum her phone, and honestly no thanks are necessary.

"I would like to think that someone would have helped me if I’d been in her situation. I hope she can take some comfort in knowing that although there are some bad people out there, there are far more good people who are happy to help. I really hope everything gets sorted for her.”

The woman's daughter also thanked the bus driver who allowed her mother to travel without any money after realising her bus pass had also been stolen. She had to leave her car behind as the keys were stolen.

The fish and chip shop shared the CCTV footage with the Banbury Guardian.

No arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information about the handbag and purse theft can call police on 101 quoting incident number 43200003574.