Dramatic footage shows the moment a gang of female pickpockets were caught by an undercover police officer as they tried to steal a shopper's purse on Oxford Street.
The thieves were caught red-handed by Metropolitan Police plain-clothes officer Sergeant Steve Stamp.
He spotted three Bulgarian women "circling their prey like sharks" on Oxford Street, which is the busiest shopping street in Britain.
The police officer caught them red-handed trying to take something from a tourist's bag moments after a previous attempt.
He said: “Everyone knows when they come to London, they are going to go shopping on Oxford Street and all the pickpockets know that is where their prey is going to be.
“For me, it's always the eyes. These thieves are looking down at peoples bags, people's rucksacks, purses and things like that, they are not interested in the shops, that's a giveaway.”
It was the second time in just two weeks that the women had been caught.
One of them was handed a 12-week suspended sentence and a fine after being found guilty of theft.
The plague of shoplifters and pickpockets affecting London’s busiest shopping street is shown in Channel 5 documentary Inside Oxford Street, airing on Thursday.
According to the programme, 1,200 crimes were reported to Oxford Street Police last year, with police revealing that the “east side is more problematic.”
In just one day, the team make 28 arrests – four of which were prolific offenders who they had been tracking.
The documentary also shows one nasty offender who entered a shop with a foil-lined bag and was caught, before head-butting a security guard.
Another female shoplifter was caught stealing £72 of goods and screamed at the plain clothed officers before spitting at one of them.
