Local Priorities Personal theft (e.g. pick pocketing, no violence used) Update

I wanted to provide you an update regarding Personal theft (e.g. pick pocketing, no violence used), which some members around this area have highlighted as an issue of concern on the Met Engage priority survey.

Residents of Barnes, Please be aware of bogus individuals offering to help at parking meters within Barnes, namely on Church Road and Barnes High Street.
Unfortunately on the 22/05/2025 there was a further incident of a male offering to assist a mature vehicle owner driver at the parking meters on Church Road.
The male has used distracting methods to make the victim believe that their bank card was kept by the ticket machine, only later to discover that someone tried to use the bank card to withdraw an amount of money.
Luckily on this occasion the bank rejected the request and the victim had the bank card cancelled.
Unfortunately only very basis descriptive details were obtained regarding the suspect being a male and about 6'0 tall.

If anyone sees any suspicious behaviour please report it to the police, if something is happening at the time of reporting it then call 999. If an incident has already occurred and there is a time lapse then dial 101.

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