A shop assistant has lost her faith in security cameras after they failed to capture an attack on her by a suspected shoplifter.

Kathleen Packer was left bruised and hurt after confronting a woman she suspected of stealing.

The suspect, who had a toddler in tow, ran out of the shop and along the busy shopping street.

Kathleen believed her attacker would have been caught on street security cameras, helping police to identify her, but they failed to pick her up.

Kathleen's mother, Sonya, of Gardener Road, Fishersgate, said: "I thought the cameras were there to record what happens in busy streets.

"This was 10 o'clock in the morning in a shopping area.

"It makes you wonder if they are of any use at all."

Kathleen, 21, of Russell Square, Brighton, was left with a black eye after the attack in Shoefayre, George Street, Hove, where she works as a supervisor.

She said: "The woman put some shoes on her child who was in a buggy and then walked out.

"When I challenged her she turned on me and hit me, not just once, but several times. I was very shaken up."

The attack happened at on Wednesday last week.

Mrs Packer said: "There were witnesses to the incident, in fact one man just stood by and watched it happen.

"But I thought the police would have been able to identify her through the cameras."

A spokesman for Sussex Police said closed-circuit television cameras were never switched off but were unable to scan the whole street at once.

"Unless a camera is out of order, they provide 24-hour coverage but it doesn't mean they always capture everything.

"They swivel about to look at different areas and can be turned towards something but it is not possible to use them retrospectively.

"In this case, the 999 call was made after the event and the offender had already left the premises."

There are 51 close circuit cameras operating in Brighton and Hove city streets.

A police spokeswoman said all cameras were in good working order and were monitored by eight support staff and one supervisor.

"From January to August, 227 arrests have been attributed to detections by CCTV.

"191 incidents were resolved by CCTV operators, so other police resources did not have to be used."