A MOTHER’S car was raided just 25 minutes after she left it in broad daylight in Weymouth.

Barbara Warne lost irreplaceable family photographs after her vehicle was broken into and her handbag stolen in the Park District.

Mrs Warne, 54, of Chelmsford Street, blasted police who said that there was no point in sending an officer.

The break-in happened when she left her white Ford Fiesta outside her daughter’s home in nearby Grange Road while she popped in on Tuesday afternoon.

When she came back out 25 minutes later she found the car’s window smashed and her handbag stolen off the front seat.

Mrs Warne said the handbag contained her purse which in which there was no more than £10 in cash, bank cards, house keys and her driving licence.

A tearful Mrs Warne said the most precious items she lost were photographs of her children when they were younger.

She said: “I’m still very upset about it.

“These are the only copies of these photographs I had of my children when they were all younger and now they’re gone.

“I put them in my purse because I liked to be reminded of them every time I opened it.”

Mrs Warne said her daughter called the police within five minutes of finding the car had been broken into and handed the phone to her mother.

Mrs Warne said she was ‘surprised’ when she was told by an operator that no officer would be coming to visit her.

She said: “I was told that because there were no witnesses to the crime that they wouldn’t be sending out an officer.

“I was quite surprised. I’ve had a message from an officer left on my house phone since then but no-one came out to see me.”

Her daughter Danielle found the handbag discarded in an alleyway off Lennox Street.

Mrs Warne has had the locks on her house changed and cancelled her bank cards.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “People should not keep items in their vehicles when unattended – especially where an opportunist thief could see them, as in this case.

“A trained police operator questioned the victim to establish if it was appropriate to send a police officer to the scene of theft.

“An officer was not sent because the theft had happened during a period that the vehicle was left unattended and the victim was not aware of any witnesses in the area or sightings of suspicious activity.

“A community support officer has been in touch with the victim and the theft is being investigated.

“All reported thefts from vehicles are recorded and analysed, with the results determining covert policing activity throughout the year.”

Dave Burchill, chairman of Mel-combe Regis’ Partners and Comm-unities Together forum, said he was very sorry to hear of the theft.

He added: “I think we would all like the police to attend when there’s been a crime but it’s all about prioritising jobs. The police have to look at their workloads and see how things are before turning out to every crime that’s reported.”