Mothercare swoop by pushchair gang

They strolled in, calmly ripped them from the display shelf and brazenly wheeled them out as their own.

They had no concern for the shoppers busy browsing around them as they walked out of the bustling Dudley store with hundreds of pounds worth of pushchairs they had failed to pay for.

Click on the images on the right to see pictures of the other suspects.

The new pushchairs were among dozens in a line-up at Merry Hill Centre's Mothercare store.

And police today released CCTV images of four people they want to speak to in connection with the thefts one seen carrying a baby at the time the pushchairs were taken.

A MacClaren Juicy Couture pushchair worth £300 and with fur-lining and a £460 Bugaboo Bee model, which features foam-filled rubber tyres, were snatched in the theft.

Mothercare staff today said pushchairs had been stolen in the past as many of the models are valuable.

Sgt Richard Evans, of the Brierley Hill neighbourhood team responsible for Merry Hill, today said that those responsible for the thefts which happened on a busy Saturday at 2.10pm on May 22 could be from outside the area.

"The people we are interested in are not known to staff at the store or to ourselves at the neighbourhood team," he said.

"We are hoping that by releasing these images someone will come forward to help us with our inquiries."

A Mothercare manager, who did not wish to be named, said both models would be well known to parents with young children.

Security tags are placed on all of the pushchairs and staff had noticed within minutes that they were missing.

Mothercare stores across the country, including Watford, have also been targeted by pushchair thieves recently.

And in April, police revealed that pram-pushing shoplifters in the Midlands were using children's pushchairs to steal thousands of pounds worth of goods.

CCTV images were released showing couples entering stores in Bilston with an empty pram which were then loaded up with goods and wheeled out without paying. Police stepped up patrols and warned shoppers and business owners to be on their guard after thieves targeted stores including Peacocks and Poundfreeze in the Market Centre.

Five different couples were identified as pulling off the thefts. In each incident, they made off with around £300 worth of goods. Pc Paul Davis said there had been several crimes of this nature and that police were working with local retailers to try and stamp out the problem.

The CCTV footage released following the pushchair thefts at Mothercare show one woman with blonde hair with sunglasses on her head. Another woman has dark hair and is wearing a purple top and sunglasses on her head.A man wanted for questioning is seen sporting a dark top with a yellow and red design on the front and a blue baseball cap.

The third woman had shoulder-length dark hair and was wearing a grey top at the time of the incident.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Dudley Police on 0345 113 5000 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.