BUSINESSES in Newport and Ryde are being warned after a man stole hundreds of pounds from a till on Wednesday.

A man, described by witnesses as being well spoken, entered St James Clinic, St James Street, Newport, and attempted to steal from them and then succeeded in stealing from their neighbour, Island Tanning and Beauty.

Jo Prangnell, manager of St James Clinic, said: "He came in and spoke to the receptionist and said his mum left a Boots bag in the waiting room.

"Luckily, my receptionist locked the till before she went to check. Obviously there was nothing there and she came back and told him.

"He asked her to double check and at that point she asked him to give her his mother's phone number, so she could get in touch if she found it.

"After that he went next door and did the same thing, but there he managed to take money.

"Apparently he has done the same thing at businesses in Ryde too."

Marie O'Sullivan, receptionist at Island Tanning and Beauty next door, said that the man said the same thing to her about his mum's bag and she went to look for it.

"It wasn't until an hour later that I realised the money was all gone.

"Between £200 and £300 was stolen."

UPDATE — The incident was reported to police.

A police spokesman said enquiries were ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting 44180123688.