A WOMAN chased four robbers down the street and then tried to continue the pursuit in her car after a raid on a building society.

The customer ran several hundred yards after the four men, losing her wallet on the way, and only stopped running when the crooks fled down an alleyway.

Even then she would not give up and returned to her car to drive round the streets and look for the thieves.

The mother-of-three from Saltdean, who did not wish to be named, said: "I don't know what came over me - I don't usually chase bank robbers. At the time I just thought it was the right thing to do."

The drama began when four men burst into the Alliance and Leicester in Boundary Road, Portslade, as the woman queued to make a transaction.

Two of the bandits jumped over the counter before the security screen came down while their accomplices stood guard by the door and told customers not to move.

The four fled with cash stuffed in plastic bags.

The 39-year-old housewife said: "When they came out I decided to chase them down the road.

"I didn't realise I was actually in front of one of them. As he overtook me he turned and said 'You'd better clear off.'

"Only then did I think about what I was doing and realised they could turn nasty.

"I just wanted to get a better description or perhaps see what car they got into."

She returned to her own car but, despite a quick drive around the area, failed to find any trace of the four men.

She said: "I'm not a hero. There were a few elderly

people in there and everybody was very frightened. I was annoyed they had done something so outrageous.

"It was only afterwards that I started thinking about it and began shaking. I also realised I had lost my wallet."

The black, leather wallet contained £120 to take her family out for a meal.

The raiders were described as black, in their twenties, wearing sports jackets, jeans, and ranging in height from 5ft 8in to 6ft 2in. One wore metal-rimmed glasses, another a dark baseball hat, and a third a tartan scarf over his face.

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