A WOMAN had more than £1,600 taken from her account after a man stole her purse while she was giving directions.

The woman was loading shopping into her car at the Waitrose car park in Sherborne when a man asked her for directions.

She noticed another man walking away from her car while she was talking, and when she checked her bag, the purse was gone.

When she called her bank, she was told that two transactions with a total of £1,000 had been carried out on her account. A further £629 transaction was made while she was on the phone, brining the total to £1,629.

The man asking for directions was described as being about 40 years old, 5'11'' tall and having short dark hair and an Eastern European accent. The man seen walking away was described as being about 5'10'' and had a shaven head. Both were said to be wearing DK jackets.

A police spokesman said: "Please be vigilant and recheck your security arrangements. Also, please report any suspicious activity to Dorset Police via our ‘Do It Online’ portal here: www.dorset.police.uk/do-it-online or by telephoning the Dorset Police non-emergency number 101 and quoting Dorset Police incident number 15:0156."