POLICE are appealing for witnesses after an elderly woman had her purse stolen when she was followed to her home near Rock from a shop by two men.

The woman, in her 80s, had been shopping with her husband in the Londis shop in Far Forest at around 1.20pm on Sunday (August 20) when she became aware of two men waiting to pay for goods at the counter in front of her.

She noticed them loitering outside the store after she left and returned to her car to drive home, where they briefly spoke to her.

When she arrived at her home near Rock and parked her car, she noticed a silver Renault Megane pull up behind her with the same two men she had seen at the shop.

The men approached the driver's side window and one of the men asked for directions to the M5 motorway. As the woman attempted to give directions, the second man is believed to have reached into her car and stolen her purse from her shopping bag.

Both men are then reported to have returned to the silver car and driven off.

The men are described as being aged in their 20s, around 5ft 6in tall and of slim builds, with dark skin and dark curly hair. They were both dressed casually in t-shirts and have been described as Eastern European in appearance.

PC Lisa Hornberger, of West Mercia Police, said: "We are appealing for witnesses to contact us as we continue to try and identify the offenders.

"There were a lot of people shopping in the Londis store between 1pm and 1.20pm when the victim was there, and we are keen to speak to anyone who remembers seeing men matching the description."

Anyone with information is asked to call officers on 101, quoting incident reference number 405S of August 20.

Alternatively, information can be passed on anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or by visiting crimestoppers-uk.org.