AN elderly woman who was stalked and robbed while Christmas shopping says she wants to thank a Good Samaritan who remarkably returned her stolen purse- with her cash still inside.

Margaret Moore was targeted by two men who followed her while she shopped around Worcester's Home Bargain store until one of the men took the purse out of her bag while the other distracted her, on Friday.

Miraculously, her purse was returned to her on Sunday afternoon after a man- who didn't wish to give his name to Mrs Moore- found it in a carrier bag on the roadside in Barbourne.

It contained £70 cash, all her bank cards and receipts from her earlier buys as well as her daughter's phone number which the kind-hearted man used to track Mrs Moore down.

Mrs Moore, 80, said: "I'm still in shock over the whole thing. I can't believe they didn't see the money, or take out my banks cards.

"It's very strange and I'm very fortunate to have got my wallet back after two days of it being stolen.

"It's wrong that there are people out there doing this kind of thing, and targeting people who are on their own, so hopefully this warns other people that these things happen.

"I can't thank the man enough who returned it to me. I hope he sees this and knows we appreciate what he did for us."

Mrs Moore, of Ronkswood, entered the store with her daughter but they separated.

She hooked her bag, containing the purse, onto her trolley and travelled through the aisles until she decided to buy ice-creams as one of her last purchases.

While she was searching through the ice-creams a man approached her, and asked her to explain some of the ingredients to her on a baked bean can.

It was here, while she was talking to him with her back turned to the trolley that a second man plucked her purse from the bag.

She said: "I thought it was strange but I didn't think much of it at the time. I was none the wiser.

"I met my daughter and went to the till. It was here I realised my purse had gone.

"We checked the car but I knew I'd had it on me.

"After we told staff members we checked the security cameras and saw that the two men had been following me right from the minute I walked in.

"It's horrible to think that happened to me, but I've got it back now and have put bells on it so I always know it's on me."

Anyone with information should call police on 101, quoting reference number 22CA 899 76Z15.