A gang of would-be shoplifters was foiled after a mum and daughter spotted what they were up to in a Holbeach supermarket.
Gill Jellyman and her daughter Esther were in Tesco on Saturday when they noticed a group of three people behaving strangely.
“The man in front of us had a trolley full of goods and was signalling to a woman at the store entrance,” said Gill.
They left the shop and made no attempt to pay at any of the tills.
“My daughter ran out of the store after them and I ran to customer services,” she added.
Gill and several staff members ran after Esther, of Spalding, who was chasing the gang with the trolley.
“Outside the store I ran straight across the road into the car park to find my daughter when she appeared walking back to the store with the trolley full of stolen goods,” she said.
“It transpired that my daughter had confronted the shoplifters and the guy with the trolley assaulted her with it, but she grabbed it and he ran off. The female ran up to her, punched her, and tried to wrestle the trolley off her but she would not let go, so the female also then ran off.
“Esther said a man had witnessed what happened and he was an off-duty policeman.”
The trolley was returned to the store and goods were valued at more than £600.
The Tesco staff were really grateful and gave Esther a bottle of Champagne as a thank-you.
“We were really cross that they were doing this. We couldn’t just do nothing,” said Gill. “My daughter is 5′ 2″, very petite and only 21 years old. I must be the proudest mother,” she added.
But after the man was arrested, police interviewed him and released him after a caution.
A spokesman for Lincolnshire police said: “A man is reported to have left the store with a trolley of items, without making an attempt to pay for them. Members of the public intervened, detaining the individual and returning him to the store until the police arrived. No injuries were reported at the scene
“A man was arrested on suspicion of shop theft and taken into custody for interview. He was later issued with an adult caution.”
