Octagenarian grandmothers thwarted robbery using handbags and shopping trolleys

Eight grandmothers foiled a south London security van robbery using handbags and a shopping trolley, police have disclosed. They pounced on the robber as he tried to snatch a cashbox from a security guard in Bermondsey last December.

As they saw the pair struggling on the ground, one of the pensioners who was in her 80s, rammed the robber with her trolley. The woman, who did not wish to be named, said: "We all went to the rescue. There were handbags flying all over the place. The bloody cheek of him - robbing the security guard right in front of us."



She added that the security guard from the firm Securicor had refused to hand over the box and was trying to fight off the unarmed thief. After he had been struck several times by the handbags and the trolley, the thief got up and fled empty-handed. The thief, who left one of his shoes behind, swore at the pensioners : "You f----ing lot!" as he fled the scene.

The drama began as the group of friends were sitting in a market area during a shopping trip and noticed what they first thought was a fight between two men. The security guards had been collecting takings from chemist shop Superdrug and was afterwards left suffering from a shoulder injury. A police spokesman said : "Full marks to the old ladies for having the guts to get in there and stop the robbery. "But this is not the kind of action police would recommend. We would prefer them to call us and not put themselves at risk."