Police hunt gang of female croissant thieves

Girls also stole hundreds of pounds-worth of cigarettes, say detectives

Police are hunting a gang of girls who marched around a shop in an upmarket seaside town stealing croissants, while others snatched hundreds of pounds-worth of cigarettes from behind the tills.

Two of the group 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 quartet struck at the Tesco Express in Denmark Villas – next to Hove train station – at about 7.25pm on 18 July.

Semi-detached houses in this street can sell for up to £1.7m, while the average property price for the area is about £630,000.

Sussex Police released CCTV images of the gang and appealed 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.

Sussex Police released CCTV images to help track down the girls involved (Sussex Police / SWNS.COM)

The third young woman took items from the shelves. She was white with dark hair and wore a grey hooded Puma top with sunglasses, according to Sussex Police.

The fourth girl who took items from shelves was said to be white with blonde or light brown hair, and wore a black top and shorts with fluffy flip-flops.

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 14 June at 5.45pm.

That time, two girls were seen entering the store, taking items off the shelves and then leaving without paying.

One girl was described as white, with her hair tied back. She wore a black jacket, a white top, blue jeans and white trainers.

The second girl was 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 with information should contact Sussex Police online or call 101 and quote reference 215 of 18/07.

For the incident at the Co-op in Field Place Parade in Goring, quote 103 of 20/06.

SWNS