A PENSIONER who lost £2,000 after her debit card was stolen has warned others of the danger of distraction thefts.

Rosemary Arundel, 85, had her card stolen in the short stay car park of Lloyds Bank in Witney last Tuesday. The thief then went on to withdraw £500 in cash four times before she noticed her card was missing the following day.

The widowed mother-of-four from Bampton said: “I was shopping in Waitrose at about 11.15 or 11.30am and I paid by card and I went out with my shopping across the car park.

“I got to the car and was unloading my shopping when this man approached me with £10 in his hand.

"He had a foreign accent, I do not know which country it was, and he said he thought I left the £10 note in the shop.

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“I said I had not because I had paid by credit card but he said if I got my wallet out he would show me.

" I thought that was really unnecessary but stupidly I got it out and he put his fingers across the bit where the notes are.

“Then he took away his £10 and he did not say another word but I did not notice he had taken my card.”

Mrs Arundel said the man was aged in his 40s or 50s and was of average build with brown, thinning hair.

He was wearing a tweed jacket and trousers and went back in the direction of Waitrose after stealing her card.

Former bed and breakfast owner Mrs Arundel said she noticed her card was missing the next day when she got her wallet out to pay her cleaner.

She said: “I just feel so stupid. I have warned all my friends.

"If a strange man approaches you and asks if you have lost any money then do not produce your wallet. It can be difficult if someone like that approaches you and I try not to be rude to strangers.”

She said she hoped to get some of the money back but is not sure how much.

Thames Valley Police suspect the man spotted Mrs Arundel’s pin number when he was standing behind her in the queue in Waitrose. A spokesman asked anyone who may have seen the man or anyone else acting suspiciously to call 101 with any information.