Police are hunting a brazen girl gang who marched around a shop in an upmarket seaside town stealing croissants, while others walked behind the tills and snatched hundreds of pounds worth of cigarettes. Two of the youngsters were seen going behind the counter and grabbing age-restricted goods that appeared to include lottery scratch cards, before pulling aside the cigarette display.
Another pair bagged up bakery items such as croissants and appeared to be holding bottles of soft drinks and other treats. As one of the girls was behind the tills, she was confronted by a member of staff, before they all fled the store in Hove, East Sussex.
The four women are now wanted in connection with the stealing rampage at the Tesco Express in Denmark Villas - next to Hove train station - at around 7.25pm on July 18. Semi-detached houses in this street can sell for around £1.7million, while the average property price for the area is about £630,000.
Sussex Police released CCTV images of the gang and is asking for help from the public in tracking them down. One young woman was seen accessing and taking items behind the counter. She is described as white, with dark hair in plaits, and wearing a dark top and shorts with sunglasses.
A second young woman entered the store and went behind the counter to take items, police said. She is described white with brown hair and wore a leopard print jacket and black vest top with sunglasses.
The third young woman took items from the shelves. She is white with dark hair and wore a grey hooded Puma top with sunglasses, according to Sussex Police.
The fourth young women took items from shelves is said to be white with blonde or light brown hair and wore a black top and shorts with fluffy flip flop shoes. Officers also believe the group may be linked to may be linked to a theft at the Co-op store in Field Place Parade, Goring, West Sussex, on June 14 at 5.45pm.
On that occasion, two girls were seen entering the store, taking items off the shelves and then leaving without paying. One girl is described as white, with her hair tied back. She wore a black jacket, a white top, blue jeans and white trainers.
The second girl is described as white or mixed race. She wore a black coat with a fur-lined hood, a white T-shirt, either black shorts or a short black skirt, and dark shoes.
Anyone who can identify them or who recognises them can contact Sussex Police online or call 101 and quote serial 215 of July 18. For the incident at the Co-op if Field Place Parade in Goring, quote serial 103 of June 20.
