A resident in Salford has spoken of his disbelief after a woman was caught on camera swiping his bottles of milk in the middle of the night.
CCTV footage from the property on Strawberry Road in Salford shows a hooded figure walking towards Paul Neal’s home at around 4:15am on 19th March.
She’s seen unlocking and opening his front gate before brazenly walking over to the bottles of milk and orange juice left by his milkman.
After quickly stuffing them into her bag, she leaves the property and walks back the way she came.
Despite the fact it might not be ‘crime of the century’, Paul says he was ‘furious’ when he noticed the lack of milk and checked his security cameras.
“I only found out in the morning when I discovered the missing milk - oh and the third bottle was an orange juice too,” he said.
“I felt bloody angry to begin with then furious that someone had come and taken it.
“Watching back the CCTV, I was extremely annoyed and disappointed that it happened.”
The resident added that he just wanted an explanation as to why someone would think about taking someone’s milk in the middle of the night.
“It might be odd but it’s theft, there’s no excuse for it whatsoever,” Paul said.
“People have told me she may be homeless or might have a baby - but it’s still not on.
“Overall I’m just fuming that it happened.”
Bemused by the milk snatching, and concerned due to the fact he’d ‘never heard of anything like this’ happening in his neighbourhood before, Mr Neal decided to share the footage on social media.
He said that ‘most of the neighbours’ had been to see him to discuss the peculiar incident.
“I didn't report it to the police, I doubt they'd send anyone round during these times anyway,” Paul added.
“I thought I'd use social media to show and hopefully someone somewhere recognised her.”
One person commented on the Facebook post: “We live in a world where even your milk isn't safe.”
Another quipped: “Can’t even have your milk delivered now.”
While another person said: “She shouldn't be taking someone else's stuff, that milk was paid by someone else. It's the moral of it, not what she's actually taken.”
Despite his anger, Paul says he would forgive the woman who took the milk if she just offered him an apology - and an explanation for what happened.
“As it goes I would accept an apology, and I’d like a reason too,” he said.
“Was it because of desperation? Is it a one-off or is she prolific?”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police confirmed the incident had not yet been reported to them, so were unable to comment further.
