THIS woman, in her 60s or 70s, is believed to be responsible for an elaborate con at a corner shop.

Police have realeased CCTV of an incident at Gibson’s Corner Shop in Rainsford Road, Chelmsford.

The culprit went in to buy an item and soon got talking to a young cashier about how £10 and £20 notes were similar to the old £1 notes, which were phased out in 1984.

She then went behind the counter to point out which notes looked similar and during this exchange she used a sleight of hand trick to steal £105.

Maragret Moy, co-owner of the shop, said: “I would warn other shopkeepers to be on the lookout for anyone acting like this woman did.

“In fact I would like to set up a special hotline for local shops to use so any suspicious behaviour or information about fraudsters operating nearby can be passed around.

“If anyone is interested in setting this up, please get in touch with me on 01245 354525.”

The theft at about 6pm on Sunday, December 15, was not discovered until hours later when co-owner Miss Moy counted up the day’s takings.

She explained: “The amount taken is a decent sized chunk of our takings and at first I thought it was an admin mistake.

“But when I looked back at the CCTV footage I saw the woman going behind the till and I was also told by my colleague about the conversation they had about the pound notes.

“We have always had a policy of only staff being allowed behind the counter but this is something we have reinforced now.”

CCTV images have been released of the suspect by police who are investigating the incident.

Anyone with information should contact PC Alan Nock at the Chelmsford City Neighbourhood Crime Team on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.