AFTER 17 years in business, Bournemouth shopkeeper Tessa Buckley reckons she has just seen the cheekiest pair of thieves yet.

The two white women came into her Workout shop in Poole Road, Westbourne, on Wednesday, August 5. One was in her late teens or early 20s and was pushing a middle-aged woman in a wheelchair.

“When someone comes into the shop in a wheelchair, you try and accommodate them as much as you can, but they did look a bit rough,” said Tessa.

“I was trying to keep an eye on them, then they tried to get past me towards the door. I asked the girl: ‘Have you got something in that bag that you shouldn’t have?’ I pulled the bag away from her and there were a few bikinis in it.

“I was going to lock them in the shop and call the police, but I was a bit worried they could have gone for me. After they’d left, I noticed that one of my nice £50 bikinis had gone, so the woman in the wheelchair must have had it.”

She rang the police and later discovered the pair had gone on to steal food from Iceland in Poole Road. The “disabled” woman was then seen loading the wheelchair into a car in Milburn Road just after 5pm the same afternoon.

“I’ve had kids being used for shoplifting quite often, but I’ve never had this before,” said Tessa.

“At the time, I thought: ‘You’ve got your bikinis back, she’s in a wheelchair, let it go.’ I was quite upset afterwards. I felt I had been conned, as opposed to a normal shoplifting.”

The younger woman was dressed in black with leggings and a very short tartan skirt. She was about 5ft 3ins and of medium build with badly highlighted shoulder-length hair. The woman in the wheelchair was thin, about 45 to 50 with black straggly hair. Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to call Dorset Police on 01202 222222 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.