A VOLUNTEER at St Albans Abbey has warned visitors to the city to keep a close watch on their handbags after someone stole her bag from the church’s gift shop.

Sandra Mosley said that her tan handbag had been stored in a small room at the Abbey, under her coat, while she served customers last Thursday.

She said: “When it was time to go home at 4pm, I found my coat on the floor and the bag wasn’t there.”

Sandra said while there was only £10 in the bag, it contained keys for her car and home – the locks of which have since been replaced.

She added: “It is a holy place and it shouldn’t happen there.”

The Abbey has informed police of the theft.

n In February this year two women were put behind bars after purse-dipping from a pensioner in St Albans city centre. The women were each sentenced to four months prison for stealing a purse from a woman in her 80s.