Car passenger snatches handbag after asking for directions

The woman, in her early twenties, was walking along Hollingdean Road, Brighton just after 1.10am on Wednesday (February 7) when a car stopped beside her.

Police said the woman, who was wearing a pink puffer jacket, was approached by a silver car and while she was giving the suspects directions, the passenger in the vehicle grabbed her bag.

The driver was described as a mixed-race woman with dark hair in a ponytail and the passenger was a white man with shaggy mousey brown hair, police said.

Officers added that the incident happened soon after the woman got off the N25 bus at the gyratory near the Sainsbury’s in Lewes Road.

Detective Constable Thomas Duffy said: “We would like to speak with anyone who was in the area of the gyratory, Brighton, who spotted a silver vehicle or noticed any suspicious behaviour.

“The victim has been left shaken by this incident. She held onto the bag and was dragged along the floor for a short distance and is lucky to have suffered only small scratches.”

Anyone with information about the incident should report it online or call 101 with the reference 50 of 07/02.