Gran who lost £1,000 issues warning to Tesco and supermarket shoppers over car parking scam

A grandma who had £1,000 stolen in a sophisticated distraction theft after her Tesco shop has finally been reimbursed - and is now calling on supermarkets to do more to protect their customers. Villains followed Lola Sledmere, 88, as she shopped and then distracted her at a trolley bay at which point her bank card was swiped from her unlocked car just yards away.

She reported the subsequent fraud and theft of £1,000 at various cashpoints but was initially frustrated with the response of her bank TSB and the police. But the gran of seven has finally received the sum - and a further £150 in compensation from TSB - but she remains wary of supermarkets and wants large businesses to do more to help their customers, reports the Express.

The pensioner said: "Considering these large supermarkets make so much money, they should do more to help prevent these things from happening. I think maybe they should have guards or certainly uniformed security moving around the supermarket because there needs to be more of a presence for sure. If there was just more of a presence, these criminals won't feel so free to act like this."

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She continued: "The guards or security staff could just wander around the shops to watch for this behaviour. They need to be seen so they should have a uniform and, preferably, guns but I'm not sure that's allowed anymore.

"I think that would probably stop this sort of behaviour. I'm relieved to have my money back but I'm worried for other people."

Tesco says safety of customers is their "top priority". A Tesco spokesperson said: "We were sorry to hear about this incident and want to assure people that the safety of our customers