A woman who claimed her twin babies had just died in order to con cash from a Winchester supermarket is being hunted by police.

After walking into the 24-hour Tesco store in Winnall, in the early hours of Tuesday, the brazen thief browsed before helping herself to baby items, including nappies, a steriliser and a breast pump from the shelves,

She picked up a carrier bag from an unattended till, put the items inside and then asked for the name of the store manager. Moments later, she approached a cashier, claiming she had bought the items, but no longer needed them because her twin babies had died.

Cashing in on the sympathy, she told the cashier the refund had been authorised by the manager and gave his name. Compassionate staff agreed to help and gave the woman a refund of over a hundred pounds.

However, shortly afterwards, staff discovered that several babies' items had been moved from the shelves, checked the CCTV and uncovered the heartless deception. The suspect is described as white and aged 28-35. She wore jeans and a black top and had dark hair.

* Anyone with information is urged to call the free Crimestoppers line on 0800 555111.