A woman visited the toilet in John Lewis @ Blue water and hung her handbag on the back of the toilet door. As she carried on about her business, a hand suddenly appeared over the top of the stall and grabbed her bag clean off the hook!!! She immediately reported the incident to the head of security, who in turn informed the manager of the store. A couple of days later she had a call from the head of security to say her bag had been found without her purse. So she arranged a convenient time to go and meet the manager to collect her things. On arriving at the John Lewis store at the agreed time, the manager was not expecting her & neither was the head of security. No one from the store had actually called her as the bag had still not been found. When the lady got home, her house had been burgled with no sign of forced entry. The Police believe the robbers had used her Driving License for the address and her keys to let themselves in! This is real - it isn't just a scaremongering story. Many will be so shocked at how complex bag snatching crime has become. Please be extra vigilant ladies AND gents (with your man bags) there are a lot of desperate criminals out there! PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS SO WORD GETS AROUND! DC Nick Gilbey Violent and Organised Crime Unit Plumstead Police Station 200 Plumstead High Street SE18 1JY Telephone: 020 7161 8746 (Internal 788746)  E-mail:  Nicholas.Gilbey@met.pnn.police.uk

This also happens at airports, so beware (they know you are about to go away).

Although this sort of thing does happen, this particular report is a hoax - and DC Nick Gilbey, who is stationed at Plumstead Police Station has said "it didn't originate from me and it's a hoax.   Please disregard this email and do not refer to it".   

See http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/handbag.asp

well id like to think if it were true or if anyones bag got stolen with licence and door keys in it that the very first thing to do would be change your locks,

For anyone concerned about this story do have a read of the link that Lokis mum gave - there is some good background info and some specific safety advice regarding keeping your bag safe whilst in the cubicle.  I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen the handles of handbags sticking out of the loo doors making them very easy to snatch. 

The sweetest thing I saw was at a show last year when a young golden retriever, shut in the loo with it's owner, was swiping a paw into my cubicle trying to catch a treat that had fallen out of my pocket!!  A criminal in the making...

Im glad its only hoax Lokis mum, but i shall still be on my guard when im in a public loo.