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CCTV of the two people linked with the distraction theft at Wickham Market Post Office
Police have been criticised for the time taken to respond to an alleged scam that cost a Suffolk post office hundreds of pounds.
David and Caron Kirk, who bought Wickham Market Post Office last year, said they were disappointed to be told officers could not meet them until nearly two weeks after reporting the crime, which they fear will leave other businesses at risk.
Suffolk Constabulary said the appointment to meet the couple had been arranged for Thursday, April 16, at a time all parties could be present.
The offence is said to have happened at around 11am on Saturday, April 4, when a man and woman entered the post office and asked to exchange £800 for euros.
Mrs Kirk said the couple were given their euros but then started arguing in a foreign language before telling the staff member they had intended to transfer the money rather than exchange it, in what is thought to be a distraction tactic.
She said the discussion lasted around 20 minutes and a queue built up with customers becoming “agitated”.
When the staff member left her counter to make the transfer, as requested, Mrs Kirk said the man reached over the counter and took some of the money. A short time after they left it was noticed that 560 euros was missing.
Mrs Kirk said she and her husband felt “devastated” after being “conned” out of the money and had hoped the police would have responded more quickly.
“As a business owner you pay your rates and yet and this is what happens,” she said. “It’s just a joke.”
“What’s the point in coming nearly two weeks later to take images when the people could be somewhere else in the country. It’s very important to get that message out to let businesses know they could be in the area.”
A police spokesman said officers were initially told CCTV wouldn’t be available to collect until Tuesday.
“A further call was made to the premises on Thursday, April 8, to check whether CCTV had footage relevant to the incident and an appointment was made for April 16, when all parties who needed to be present would be available,” the spokesman added.
The owners also reported the alleged theft to the Post Office’s Grapevine service, which relays warnings to other branches.
A Post Office spokesman said: “We take these types of frauds very seriously and both proactively and reactively inform branches of the risk and what they can do to prevent it from happening.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting crime number WO/15/582.
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