Heroes tackle shoplifter in Harborough street

Clare Trier (53) teamed up with Paul Long (32) to foil an unknown shoplifter after he tried to steal a £250 down-filled jacket from Mountain Warehouse on the High Street. The shoplifter escaped - but the jacket was retrieved.

The drama happened at about 5pm last Thursday, as staff at Mountain Warehouse were nearing the end of their working day. Mum Clare, from Fleckney, was working at the till in the store when “I heard the beeper going on the front door, and saw this guy with a woolly hat walking out of the shop”.

Without thinking, Clare set off in pursuit, shouting at the thief to drop the jacket. “I think your instinct kicks in, and I can run, so I did.”

The man ducked down the Talbot Yard alley six shops up the High Street, between the Nationwide building society and Wildwood restaurant, with plucky Clare in hot pursuit.

It’s there that Paul Long, who was just leaving work at Force Four Creative Ltd, heard Clare shouting and saw the man with the stolen jacket running towards him.

“I gathered the man ahead had taken something from the lady, so I grabbed hold of him and told him firmly but politely to let go of the stuff,”

“He body-checked him” said Clare. “I was catching up anyway, but I’m not sure I could have tackled him on my own.”

The man slurred something to Paul, who lives in Loughborough, along the lines of “I thought it was someone else’s” - and as Paul secured the jacket, the shoplifter made his escape.

Paul said: “The thief was in his mid to late 30s with fair hair or no eyebrows - he had a hat pulled down over his hair - and a big dark coat.”

Paul handed the stolen jacket back to Clare, and then - a bit like a superhero - disappeared into the darkness. “I had to run - it’s just that I had a train to catch” he explained.

The Mail was able to track down both of our local crime fighters to reunite them for this picture (right) outside the Mountain Warehouse store.