I saw a pensioner being mugged, and got her £330 back - have-a-go doughnut seller tackles thief in Dudley

Peter Westwood, 48, who keeps Old Tom's Donuts in Dudley town centre, told how he recovered the pensioner's phone - and then went back a second time when he discovered the man had also stolen her rent money.

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He managed to recover all but £20 of the money that had been stolen.

Police are now investigating closed-circuit television footage of the incident.

Mr Westwood said he had finished trading for the day, and was in the process of collecting his wife Nicola who runs the neighbouring Streat Spuds potato stall when he noticed the commotion outside Heron Foods in Castle Street.  

"I saw this kid running off, and the old lady shouted 'he's got my purse and phone'," he said.

"I chased the thief and caught him round the corner, to where the bus station was, and got the phone off him.

"I took it back to her, and she said 'he's still got my money', she said he had taken £350."

Mr Westwood, who has been trading in the town for about five years, said he went back a second time, running down Castle Street and turning right into Birmingham Street, where he quickly found the thief again.

"I think he was under the influence of something, so he wasn't very fast," he said.

"The second time he threw the money into the air, so I wasn't able to stop him. I collected £330, I don't know whether the other £20 got lost, and he ran away. 

"I contacted the Churchill Shopping Centre, who has a clear CCTV image of the offender. 

"The police came out quickly and took the elderly lady home.

"She said she had just come out of Heron Foods and put her bag on the bench for a minute when he snatched the purse and phone. She was very shaken, she said she had got the money to pay her rent."

The incident happened about 5.45pm on July 16, said Mr Westwood, who lives in the Wren's Nest area of the town.