CALLOUS thieves stole three designer handbags in broad daylight from the Barnardo’s charity shop on London Road, Alderley Edge and then verbally abused the manager.

The three Gucci bags - two priced at £400 and worth £1,000 each and another valued at £600 with a price tag of £200 - were taken from the front cabinet in the window of the boutique and dress agency at 3.50pm on Friday, January 11.

Manager Melanie Connor said: "It was a shock. Two people [a man and a woman] came in pretending to be customers.

"I had just had a donation from another lady who brought in three black bags and had popped into the back room for two ticks to move them out of the way.

"Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a gap in the cupboard."

She said the offenders used a knife to cut through the tape sealing the cupboard.

Melanie said she shouted "stop, you’re taking my bags" and the woman ran out of the shop. The man then stood in the middle of the store, stopping Melanie from pursuing the woman, and hurled verbal abuse at her.

Melanie said she hadn’t seen the pair before but is convinced the theft was "to order".

She added: "They took the Gucci handbags, but left a Versace and a Chloe. They weren’t visibly flash, so I think they were stealing to order."

Chairman of Alderley Edge Parish Council Mary Maczkowiak said: "Stealing from a charity shop is beyond the lowest of the low."

Melanie has approached the Parish Council about installing CCTV in the village and Barnardo’s head office security are also visiting the branch to see what they can do.

She said: "If there’d been CCTV, the police would have seen them running off up the street."

If you have any information about this incident or the offenders, contact Wilmslow NPU on 0845 458 6374 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0845 458 0000.

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