POLICE have refused to treat a grandmother’s report that her purse had been stolen as a crime.

Jennifer Wood, 62, said she felt officers were treating her like ‘an old biddy who doesn’t matter’ over the alleged theft in the Accrington Tesco Sup-erstore.

Mrs Wood is insistent that, while she was shopping, her bag was surreptitiously unzipped and the purse taken.

Tesco security staff believed Mrs Wood and immediately reported it to police as a theft.

However, Mrs Wood was left stunned when officers refused to classify the incident as a crime, saying they were treating it as lost property.

They cited CCTV for this decision, which did not show anyone approaching her in the store.

But Tesco bosses said Mrs Wood was only captured on the camera system at two points in the 90,000sq ft store.

Police also said Mrs Wood had not seen anyone approach her in the store — but the grandmother said that did not rule out a sneak thief.

The grandmother-of-five, who uses a mobility scooter and has the serious lung condition COPD, said she used her purse, containing £50, her bus pass and library card, to buy a lottery ticket within the supermarket before zipping it inside her handbag.

Mrs Wood said that she realised her bag was unzipped and purse missing when she reached the checkouts.

The incident being classed as a case of lost property means Mrs Wood will have to pay £10 for her replacement bus pass.

She said: “I am being treated like an old biddy, who doesn’t matter.

”John O'Reilly, chairman of the Lancashire Police Federation said senior bosses should step in when there was a difference of opinion between the victim and officer on the case.

He added: “This sounds like a very unusual case.”

A spokeswoman for Tesco said Mrs Wood was ‘very distressed’.

She said: “Mrs Wood reported the theft to our security manager who helped her to cancel her credit cards.

"He then reported it to police on the police radio system.”

MP Graham Jones said he couldn’t understand the police’s approach.

“I would hope there is no intention to keep crime figures down.

"I would be happy to represent this lady in asking the police their reasoning behind this.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said they had carried out a number of inquiries, including looking at CCTV and insisted ‘there was no evidence to suggest the purse had been stolen’.

He said: “When deciding whether to log incidents as crimes, the force follows a strict policy set out by the Home Office.

"We are treating it as lost.”